<p>Evolution is a central underlying concept to a significant number of discourses in civilized society, but the complexity of understanding basic tenets of this important theory is just now coming to light. Knowledge about evolution is constructed from both formal and "free-choice" opportunities, like television. Nature programs are commonly considered "educational" by definition, but research indicates the narratives often promote creationist ideas about this important process in biology. I explored how nature programs influenced knowledge construction about evolutionary theory using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Because misconceptions about evolution are common, I examined how students` conceptual ecologies changed in response to information presented in an example of a particularly poor nature film narrative. Students` held a diversity of misconceptions, proximate conceptions, and evolutionary conceptions simultaneously, and many of their responses were direct reflections of the nature program. As a result, I incorporated the same nature program into an experiment designed to examine the effects of narrative and imagery on evolution understanding. After completing an extensive pre-assessment that addressed attitudes and beliefs about science knowledge, students viewed one of four versions of the nature program that varied in the quality of science and imagery presented. The effect of watching different versions was only vaguely apparent in students with a moderate understanding of evolution. The relationship was much more complex among students with a poor understanding of evolution but suggested a negative effect that was more influenced by public discourses about this "controversial" subject than conceptual understanding. The relationships warranted examining learning from the perspective of the consumers of these programs. I surveyed audience beliefs about the educational value of nature programs and found that an overwhelming majority believed the programs were "educational" and designed to teach about nature. The results were particularly alarming because beliefs about the educational value may strongly impact learning outcomes. An informal survey of nature programs aired during a "sweeps" month indicated that poor presentation of science, and specifically evolutionary theory, was indeed the norm. Indeed, nature programs may be contributing to the "deconstruction" of knowledge about evolution both in and out of the classroom.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MONTANA/oai:etd.lib.umt.edu:etd-03102010-111612 |
| Date | 25 March 2010 |
| Creators | Perkins, Alison Emily Havard |
| Contributors | Douglas J Emlen, Ray Ekness, Denise Dowling, Betsy W Bach, Paul Alaback, Carol A Brewer |
| Publisher | The University of Montana |
| Source Sets | University of Montana Missoula |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-03102010-111612/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Montana or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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