Skip to main content

Evolutionary Theory as a Controversial Topic in Science Curriculum Around the Globe

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Evolution Education Around the Globe

Abstract

Evolutionary theory is considered as one of the greatest scientific achievements in history of science on par with the theory of heliocentricism, general and specific relativity, and the theory of plate tectonics. However, public controversy over teaching evolutionary theory urges science educators to consider conceptual, epistemic, worldview/religious, and social/cultural factors simultaneously when teaching about evolutionary theory. In this book, we aimed to explore the influence of social and cultural domain on evolution education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abrie, A. L. (2010). Student teachers’ attitudes towards and willingness to teach evolution in a changing South African environment. Journal of Biological Education, 44, 102–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aikenhead, G. S., & Jegede, O. J. (1999). Cross-cultural science education: A cognitive explanation of a cultural phenomenon. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36, 269–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akerson, V. L., Morrison, J. A., & McDuffie, A. R. (2006). One course is not enough: Preservice elementary teachers’ retention of improved views of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43(2), 194–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akyol, G., Tekkaya, C., Sungur, S., & Traynor, A. (2012). Modeling the interrelationships among pre-service science teachers’ understanding and acceptance of evolution, their views on nature of science and self-efficacy beliefs regarding teaching evolution. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 23(8), 937–957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, R. D. (2007). Teaching the theory of evolution in social, intellectual, and pedagogical context. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 91(4), 664–677.

    Google Scholar 

  • Athanasiou, K., & Papadopoulou, P. (2012). Conceptual ecology of the evolution acceptance among Greek education students: Knowledge, religious practices and social influences. International Journal of Science Education, 34(6), 903–924.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Athanasiou, K., & Mavrikaki, E. (2015). Conceptual inventory of natural selection as a tool for measuring Greek university students’ evolution knowledge: Differences between novice and advanced students. International Journal of Science Education, 36, 1262–1285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BouJaoude, S., Asghar, A., Wiles, J. R., Jaber, L., Sarieddine, D., & Alters, B. (2011a). Biology professors’ and teachers’ positions regarding biological evolution and evolution education in a Middle Eastern society. International Journal of Science Education, 33(7), 979–1000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BouJaoude, S., Wiles, J. R., Asghar, A., & Alters, B. (2011b). Muslim Egyptian and Lebanese students’ conceptions of biological evolution. Science & Education, 20, 895–915.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A., & Otrel-Cass, K. (2011). Teaching evolution in New Zealand’s schools—Reviewing changes in the New Zealand science curriculum. Research in Science Education, 41, 441–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chinn, C. A., & Brewer, W. F. (1993). The role of anomalous data in knowledge acquisition: A theoretical framework and implications for science instruction. Review of Educational Research, 63, 1–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, V. B. (1995). When science is “another world”: Relationships between worlds of family, friends, school, and science. Science Education, 79(3), 313–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dagher, Z. R., & Boujaoude, S. (2005). Students’ perceptions of the nature of evolutionary theory. Science Education, 89(3), 378–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Baz, T., & El-Weher, M. (2012). The effect of contextual material on evolution in the Jordanian secondary-school curriculum on students’ acceptance of the theory of evolution. Journal of Biological Education, 46, 20–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deniz, H. (2011). Examination of changes in prospective elementary teachers’ epistemological beliefs in science and exploration of factors meditating that change. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 20(6), 750–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deniz, H., Donnelly, L., & Yilmaz, I. (2008). Exploring the factors related to acceptance of evolutionary theory among Turkish preservice biology teachers: Toward a more informative conceptual ecology for biological evolution. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(4), 420–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodick, J., Dayan, A., & Orion, N. (2010). Philosophical approaches of religious Jewish science teachers toward the teaching of ‘controversial’ topics in science. International Journal Of Science Education, 32(11), 1521–1548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downie, J. R., & Barron, N. J. (2000). Evolution and religion: Attitudes of Scottish first year biology and medical students to the teaching of evolutionary biology. Journal of Biological Education, 34, 139–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterbrook, G. (1997). Science and God: A warming trend? Science, 277, 890–893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eder, E., Turic, K., Milasowszky, N., Van Adzin, K., & Hergovich, A. (2011). The relationships between paranormal belief, creationism, intelligent design, and evolution at secondary schools in Vienna (Austria). Science & Education, 20, 517–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, J. P., & Kameniar, B. (2014). Is ‘learning’ science enough?—A cultural model of religious students of science in an Australian government school. International Journal of Science Education, 36, 2554–2579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrari, M., & Chi, M. T. H. (1998). The nature of naïve explanations of natural selection. International Journal of Science Education, 20(10), 1231–1256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geraedts, C. L., & Boersma, K. T. (2006). Reinventing natural selection. International Journal of Science Education, 28(8), 843–870.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, S. J. (1997). Nonoverlapping magisteria. Natural History, 106, 16–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ha, M., Haury, D. L., & Nehm, R. H. (2012). Feeling of certainty: Uncovering a missing link between knowledge and acceptance of evolution. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(1), 95–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanley, P., Bennett, J., & Ratcliffe, M. (2014). The interrelationships of science and religion: A typology of engagement. International Journal of Science Education, 36, 1210–1229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hewson, P. W. (1985). Epistemological commitment in the learning of science: Examples from dynamics. European Journal of Science Education, 7, 163–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, B. K. (1997). The development of personal epistemology: Dimensions, disciplinary differences, and instructional practices. Doctoral dissertation. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hokayem, H., & BouJaoude, S. (2008). College students’ perceptions of the theory of evolution. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(4), 395–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S. Y., & Nehm, R. H. (2011). A Cross-cultural comparison of Korean and American science teachers’ views of evolution and the nature of science. International Journal of Science Education, 33, 197–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, N. G. (2007). Nature of science: Past, present, and future. In S. K. Abel & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 831–879). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcelos, M. F., & Nagem, R. L. (2012). Use of the “Tree” analogy in evolution teaching by biology teachers. Science & Education, 21, 507–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. D., Scott, E. C., & Okamoto, S. (2006). Public acceptance of evolution. Science, 313, 765–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nieswandt, M., & Bellomo, K. (2009). Written extended-response questions as classroom assessment tools for meaningful understanding of evolutionary theory. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(3), 333–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunez, E. E., Pringle, R. M., & Showalter, K. T. (2012). Evolution in the Caribbean classroom: A critical analysis of the role of biology teachers and science standards in shaping evolution instruction in Belize. International Journal of Science Education, 34, 2421–2453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peker, D., Comert, G. G., & Kence, A. (2010). Three decades of anti-evolution campaign and its results: Turkish undergraduates’ acceptance and understanding of the biological evolution theory. Science & Education, 19, 739–755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, W. G. (1970). Intellectual and ethical development in the college years: A scheme. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pintrich, P. R., Marx, R. W., & Boyle, R. A. (1993). Beyond cold conceptual change: The role of motivational beliefs and classroom contextual factors in the process of conceptual change. Review of Educational Research, 63(2), 167–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quessada, M. P., & Clement, P. (2007). An epistemological approach to French syllabi on human origins during the 19th and 20th centuries. Science & Education, 16, 991–1006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schilders, M., Sloep, P., Peled, E., & Boersma, K. (2009). Worldviews and evolution in the biology classroom. Journal of Biological Education, 43, 115–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seoh, K. H. R., Subramaniam, R., & Hoh, Y. K. (2016). How humans evolved according to grade 12 students in Singapore. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53, 291–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tenenbaum, H. R., To, C., Wormald, D., & Pegram, E. (2015). Changes and stability in reasoning after a field trip to a natural history museum. Science Education, 99, 1073–1091.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toulmin, S. (1972). Human understanding: An inquiry into the aims of science. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yasri, P., & Mancy, R. (2014). Understanding student approaches to learning evolution in the context of their perceptions of the relationship between science and religion. International Journal of Science Education, 36(1), 24–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hasan Deniz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Deniz, H., Borgerding, L.A. (2018). Evolutionary Theory as a Controversial Topic in Science Curriculum Around the Globe. In: Deniz, H., Borgerding, L. (eds) Evolution Education Around the Globe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90939-4_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90939-4_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90938-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90939-4

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics