Ph.D. (Education) / This research focused on two short learning programmes in evolution education offered by the Department of Science and Technology Education in the Faculty of Education of the University of Johannesburg. The broad purpose of the study was to develop design principles for a series of short learning programmes on evolution offered by the University. In achieving these aims, the study looked at teachers’ conceptual understanding of evolution, which included a number of common myths and misconceptions; folk or naive evolutionary explanations; and affective and sociocultural factors that influence cognition. Results were obtained from questionnaires, narratives, observations, discussion, and pre-and post-tests. A fruitful analytic tool was developed – that of converting questionnaire responses into narratives in order to obtain a better within participant view of coherent versus fragmented thinking. Some the themes that emerged included the cognitive bias of essentialism and how this relates to the notion of phenomenological primitives or p-prims, and the mechanism of resubsumption. "Hot" and "cold" learning and the critical issues of both religious and racial objections to evolution emerged as a fairly dominant theme. Data also supported a view of knowledge-as-pieces rather than theory-like in this knowledge domain. Poor teacher knowledge and the need for longer learning programmes, are also discussed in the results. To mitigate these conceptual and affective barriers, a number of design principles are proposed and discussed for teacher professional development in this area including the importance of communities of practice to augment short learning programmes and support on-going professional development.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the rhetoric of the Creationist-evolutionist textbook controversy. In Chapter II, Leland Griffin's approach to the study of historical movements was used concomitantly with Thomas Kuhn's ideas concerning scientific revolution to explore the first research question: What changes have occurred in the persuasive success rate of the Creationists' textbook battle as it has moved from its stance of "the good versus the evil" toward the stance of the scientist, (including scientific methods of reasoning and observation)?Chapter III explored the second research question: Do the new persuasive tactics, the use of scientific vocabulary, grammar, and forms of argument, provide more effective persuasive persuasive methods than did the earlier approaches. This chapter examined the evolutionary content of secondary school biology textbooks, and in particular, estimated the impact of change in Creationist persuasive tactics used since 1968 upon the content and marketing of secondary biology textbooks. The textbook studies supported the contention that the bifurcated movement has been highly successful. Evolutionary coverage has decreased in biology textbooks since 1968 while biblical creation has seen a definite increase.Currently, however, the two Creationist fronts face a new challenge as their polar views have been observed together in recent legal battles. This polarity in approach has already proven detrimental to the Creationists in recent trials. Chapter IV discussed the implications of this bifurcation of the Creationist Movement. Further, the implications of the current rhetorical crisis were examined. It was recommended that research be continued examining the rhetorical strategies used by the Creationists since 1963. Also, further research in the area of textbook analysis was deemed necessary. / Department of Speech Communication

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the status of and relationships among the variables of teacher acceptance of evolutionary theory, teacher understanding of evolutionary theory, and teacher understanding of the nature of science among Indiana public high school biology teachers. The relationships between these variables and the emphasis evolution receives in the classroom and teacher academic variables were investigated. Teacher knowledge structure of the concept of evolution was also explored.To answer the questions and hypotheses delineated in the study, a 68-item questionnaire and concept mapping activity was administered to the population of 989 teachers. The response rate was 53%.The teachers exhibited only a moderate level of acceptance and a marginal level of understanding of evolutionary theory. Teacher understanding of the nature of science was moderately high. Evolution played only a minor role in the curriculum. While the teachers had completed considerable course work in biology, the vast majority lacked specific course work in evolution and the nature of science.The data revealed a significant relationship between teacher acceptance and teacher understanding of evolutionary theory and between teacher acceptance of evolutionary theory and teacher understanding of the nature of science. The data also revealed significant associations between teacher allocation of instructional time to evolution and teacher level of acceptance of evolutionary theory, teacher level of understanding of evolutionary theory, teacher level of understanding of the nature of science, and teacher completion of a course in evolution. Additionally, the data revealed significant associations between teacher level of understanding of evolutionary theory and teacher completion of a course in evolution and teacher academic background in biology. Significant associations were revealed between teacher level of acceptance of evolutionary theory and both teacher completion of a course in evolution and teacher completion of a course in the nature of science.A significant amount of the variance in teacher acceptance of evolutionary theory was explained by the other variables delineated. The concept mapping activity revealed that teacher acceptance and understanding of evolutionary theory was reflected in teacher knowledge structure of evolution and that teachers' knowledge structures were characterized by an unsophisticated organizational framework. / Department of Biology

A revolution is taking place in education today at all levels from kindergarten through college, in virtually all subject matter areas. This revolution is due, in part, to research in learning theory and technological advances. Changes in attitudes have led to the concept of "accountability"--that educators must perform and produce educational programs that are meaningful and interesting as well as informative. The fact that private industry has had satisfactory results in the academic marketplace has also provided impetus for the current educational revolution which has resulted in several innovations.A general education biology course, Man and the Life Sciences, has been taught with an audiotutorial component at Ball State University since 1965. Quarterly evaluations by the students provided the staff with evidence that three of the units should be redesigned 1) to have more appeal to the students; 2) to meet their expectancy of relevance; and 3) to have a higher level of academic quality.The problem for the present research investigation was twofold: 1) to design three audiotutorial units for a college general education biology course titled Aggression, Territoriality and Survival; Time, Adaptation and Change; and Man, Communication and Behavior, with innovative approaches and 2) to evaluate the effectiveness of the newly developed materials.In designing these three units, specific goals of the research undertaking were 1) to integrate the three units in such a way that concepts of organismal biology, evolution and behavior are pervasive throughout all three units; 2) to develop a list of performance objectives for each of the three units; 3) to determine learning strategies which will help the students achieve each of these objectives; and 4) to determine learning strategies which will help make these objectives interesting and relevant to the students.In order to meet these criteria, the principles of systems management were employed bys 1) specifying goals, 2) specifying desired outcomes for students, 3) planning instruction, 4) evaluating student achievement, and 5) revising instructional procedure in light of experience. In planning the instruction, the method used to facilitate the accomplishment of the desired outcomes was the audiotutorial approach which allowed the student to learn at his own pace. Each unit actively involved the student in sequential multimedia learning activities. A learning guide was designed for the student to use in responding to questions posed as he progressed through the audiotutorial learning activities.After development, the unit materials were first tested with a group of ten students. Feedback on the basis of achievement tests and individual interviews provided the rationale for revisions in preparation for field testing. After completion of the field testing, which involved approximately 650 students, additional revisions were made, resulting in the final version which was evaluated to determine the overall effectiveness of the learning materials.Final measurement of student accomplishment was effected by the use of pre-tests and post-tests consisting of parallel quiz items which had been validated in preliminary testing. Forty-five objectives were final tested; difficulty levels from the pre-test indicated that twenty-four of the objectives were achieved by seventy percent or more of the students. Chi square applied to the results of the remaining items indicated that seven additional objectives probably were also achieved at this same level; fourteen of the objectives were not achieved during the final evaluation. Standard item analysis was used to assist in determining why these objectives were not accomplished; this information can be used in making future revisions.Student opinions were solicited in the form of a student unit evaluation. At least forty percent of the students rated each unit's interest level as high and fifty percent rated each as average; thus, the units accomplished what was expected.A program of instruction should evolve with new ideas and innovations with an effort toward continual improvement. Data collected from this research investigation can be used to pinpoint specific areas where additional research would be beneficial.

M.Ed. (Science Education) / The topic of evolutionary theory is new to the South African Life Sciences curriculum, having only been introduced in 2008 to the grade 12 cohort. A great deal of controversy and discussion surrounds the teaching and learning of evolution in many countries, and since the introduction of the topic, including South Africa. The primary source of this controversy arises from the conflict that many Christian and Muslim people experience between what their respective religions teach them about the act of Creation by God and the biological theory of evolution. As a result of its recent inception into South African school, not much research has been done to explore how this topic is experienced by Hindu secondary school learners and teachers. The aim of this study is therefore to address two gaps, firstly to add to the almost total lack of information about the Hindu perspective of the topic of evolution. Secondly, to add to the knowledge base of the teaching and learning of evolution in secondary schools since the scant information available on the teaching and learning of evolution in South Africa is mainly confined to tertiary education. Literature was reviewed on various aspects relevant to this study such as the PCK, NOS, CCC, Hinduism and the teaching and learning of evolution overseas and locally. In order to investigate the lived experiences of Hindu Life Sciences teachers and learners to the topic of evolution a qualitative study with elements of phenomenology was the chosen research design. This prompted the need to use a series of focus group and individual interviews with the various role-players as laid out by the overarching conceptual framework CHAT, the lens through which this study was viewed. Triangulation of data increased the reliability and validity of this study and was obtained by interviewing a Hindu priest as well as Hindu parents of Life Sciences learners. Interviews were transcribed, coded using the coding model by Saldana (2009) and analysed according to common themes. The main finding of this study was that Hindu teachers and learners experience no conflict with the topic of evolution thus displaying a lack of major tensions linked to the CHAT model. Many Hindus are however ignorant of their religion and scriptures but nevertheless remain accepting of the theory of evolution. Their acceptance could be attributed to three major tenets of Hinduism that link to evolutionary concepts: the cyclical concept of time; the evolution of the soul during reincarnation and the idea that during times of calamity, God manifests on Earth in the form of Avatāras. Misconceptions of evolutionary theory abound among learners and to a lesser extent the parents and teachers, particularly with respect to the notion of common ancestry. The teachers had adequate PCK but their knowledge of the NOS was limited. Recommendations emerging from these findings therefore warrant greater attention to the NOS in both PRESET and INSET teacher training courses. These courses can also use the lack of tensions between the Hindu religion and the topic of evolution as a case in point to show that religion and science can exist in harmony with each other. The concept of a nearest common ancestor (NCA) should also be emphasised in these courses – thereby helping to dispel the misconception that humans descended directly from apes.

M.Ed. (Science Education) / Evolution was introduced as a new section of Life Sciences in the National Curriculum Statement in 2008, anecdotal evidence indicating that this incorporation was not welcomed by all teachers, learners, parents and schools with the same enthusiasm. For example, many Christian teachers and learners seem to have religious objections, but while there is ample research available in the United States of America and Great Britain on their views of evolution, that on the South African Life Sciences classroom is limited. Therefore, this study strives to determine the lived experiences of these teachers and learners and how they relate to the topic. The objectives were to investigate how Christian teachers of Life Sciences experience the teaching of evolution in the classroom; the knowledge and skills they have in order to teach natural selection and evolutionary biology, as prescribed by the National Curriculum Statement; and the barriers they face in the teaching of evolution and natural selection. Meanwhile, Grade 12 learners completed a questionnaire before and after receiving tuition on evolution in order to determine their lived experiences. This study is part of a trilogy within a Research Niche Area of the University of Johannesburg, with the other two researchers focusing on Islam perspectives (Yalvac, 2011) and the Hindu perspective (Reddy, 2012). This is an explanatory sequential mixed method study with an element of phenomenology. Quantitative data was collected which informed the qualitative research, the latter being used to examine the lived experiences of Life Sciences teachers, the former to determine learners’ attitudes toward evolution as well as gauging the teachers’ general understanding of the theory of evolution. Third generation Cultural Historical Activity theory (CHAT) was used as the theoretical framework through which the lived experiences of Christian teachers and learners were analysed. This is appropriate for this study as it views the teachers and learners holistically, by taking their culture and history into account, and it provides a vehicle for looking at what Pintrich, Marx and Boyle (1993) call, the “hot” factors associated with controversial conceptual change. The findings of my study show that many Christian teachers and learners experience conflict between their religion and evolution and many tensions arise in the activity system when using CHAT as a lens. These tensions mainly arise due to a lack of the teachers’ PCK and the conflict arising because of religious objections. The findings furthermore show that learners have a relative naïve understanding of evolution before tuition and have many misconceptions regarding it. A clear polarisation can be seen after tuition as learners move from a neutral stance with regards to evolution to either a more creationistic or scientific point of view. In the final chapter I make recommendations on how the teaching and learning of evolution can be improved in the South African classroom.

Proposes a new model for teaching inquiry and critical thinking in the middle school science classroom. This model will assist students in learning the evidence for evolution for themselves, as well as assisting them in developing skills in critical thinking and inquiry. The objective of this model is to create a more scientifically literate student body who can go on to pursue an even greater understanding of the nature of science.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the teaching of evolution in selected grade 10 classrooms in Namibia. Some teachers from Oshikoto region in Onyaanya circuit have indicated the difficulties they have encountered when teaching the topic in Life Science of Namibian curriculum. Moreover, the teaching of evolution has a great practical value for student directly or indirectly, evolutionary biology has made many contributions to society. An understanding of evolution is essential in finding and using natural resources and it will be indispensable to establish sustainable relationship with the natural environment. Specifically, this study examined a set of variables including teachers’ understanding of evolution. The data were collected from Life Science teachers through administration of evolution content knowledge. Qualitative case study approach was employed. The population comprised of three Life Science grade 10 teachers from three schools. Three teachers were selected by using a purposive sampling technique. The sampling technique was chosen because is relevant to the conceptual framework and the research questions addressed by the research. The qualitative research was executed by applying the phenomenological method. Mason (2012) claims that: “qualitative research is used when the research wishes to understand meanings, beliefs and values”. The study was drawn from the theory of social constructivism theory by Vygotsky, 1978. According to Vygotsky, (1978) “much important learning by the child occurs through social interaction with a skilful tutor”. The researcher collected qualitative data by means of classroom observations and semi-structured I with three Life Science teachers from three different schools. The following research questions were attempt to be answered: What is the nature of teacher’s content knowledge on evolution teaching in grade 10? What is the nature of teachers’ instructional strategies during evolution teaching? How does the teachers’ content knowledge and instructional strategies shape the teacher’s interactions and discourse? The collected data was analysed using Classroom Practice Diagnostic Framework (CPDF). Participants used their teaching experiences to teach evolution. This study indicated a lack of content knowledge among teachers and teaching and learning resources at schools. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education allocate enough textbook funds to regions to cater for every learner’s textbook. Life Science education officer should collaborate with biology education officer to organise a workshop for Life Science teacher in their region. The workshop will equip teachers with more information on evolution and will help in the improvement of learners’ performances. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

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La problématique de recherche étudiée dans le cadre de cette thèse, émerge de diverses réflexions, données empiriques et observations, toutes liées à un constat qui a des implications importantes pour l’enseignement des sciences :le rejet partiel ou total de la théorie de l’évolution aux cours de sciences dispensés à l’école, au nom de croyances créationnistes, dans des sociétés modernes européennes où la science fait autorité.<p>La littérature scientifique qui traite de cette problématique dans le cadre de l’enseignement scolaire en Europe ,analyse les conceptions d’acteurs de l’enseignement scolaire – enseignants et/ou élèves – sur ce sujet, en étudiant notamment le lien qu’entretiennent ces conceptions avec les représentations que ces mêmes acteurs ont de la science, avec leurs parcours personnels, avec leur formation, etc. Un point aveugle observé dans cette littérature est la rareté des recherches portant sur les directives officiellement adressées aux enseignants. C’est pourquoi nous avons choisi de nous pencher sur le contenu de ces directives. <p>Cette recherche a, en premier lieu, une visée exploratoire. Elle consiste à construire et utiliser un instrument théorique et méthodologique qui permet, d’une part, d’identifier des représentations du savoir scientifique, de la croyance religieuse et/ou de leurs rapports (ou non rapports) véhiculées par les curriculums prescrits européens et, d’autre part, de déterminer des mécanismes à travers lesquels ces représentations pourraient influencer, d’une façon ou d’une autre, le rejet ou l’acceptation de la théorie de l’évolution au nom de croyances créationnistes ou encore, inversement, le rejet ou l’acceptation de croyances créationnistes au nom de la théorie de l’évolution. Pour repérer les représentations recherchées, nous utilisons la méthode de l’analyse de contenu thématique.<p>Une autre visée de cette étude est confirmatoire. Il s’agit de confirmer le postulat suivant lequel la nature des éventuelles représentations repérées au sein des curriculums prescrits au moyen de l’instrument susmentionné peut être mise en lien – lien dont la nature sera définie dans le corps de notre dissertation, sur la base de l’analyse de données sociohistoriques rapportées dans la littérature – avec les modalités de gestion de la laïcité mises en place par les politiques éducatives de différents pays européens :la France, la Grèce et la Belgique francophone. Ces pays ont justement été sélectionnés pour leur profil divergent en matière de politiques de gestion de la diversité culturelle. Pour démontrer ce lien, nous nous livrons à une analyse comparative sociétale. / Doctorat en Sciences Psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished