Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 31 (2012) 167 – 172

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1877-0428 © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Prof. Hüseyin Uzunboylu.doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.036

Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 00 (2011) 000–000

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Examination of pre-service science teachers’ perceptions and understanding of evolution in relation to socio-demographic

variables Gülsüm Akyola *, Ceren Tekkayaa, Semra Sungura

aMiddle East Technical University, Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary Education, Ankara -06531, Turkey

aAksaray University, Faculty of Education, Department of Elementary Education, Aksaray -68100, Turkey

Abstract

This study explored pre-service science teachers’ understanding and acceptance of evolution and their perceived necessity of introducing evolution into elementary science classes in relation to some socio-demographic variables. A total of 415 pre-service science teachers completed the background characteristics survey, evolution content knowledge test and measure of acceptance of the theory of evolution. Canonical correlation analysis demonstrated that pre-service science teachers with well-educated parents, females, and those with high levels of interest in evolution tended to have higher levels of understanding and acceptance of evolution compared to others. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: evolution; pre-service science teachers; gender; socioeconomic status

1. Introduction

Many organizations in the field have consistently advocated teaching of evolution (e.g. American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2006; NAS, 1998; National Association of Biology Teachers [NABT], 2008; National Science Teachers Association [NSTA], 2003). However, some studies demonstrated that evolution has not been perceived as the central and unifying theory by teachers (e.g. Nadelson & Nadelson, 2009; Osif, 1997). For instance, studying with K-8 educators, Nadelson and Nadelson (2009) found that some of the educators do not perceive evolution as a part of the curriculum and may not see evolution as significant for learning life science. Besides, according to the study by Osif (1997), one-third of American teachers did not have an agreement on the idea that ‘the theory of evolution is central to the study of biology’. On the other hand, Asghar, Wiles and Alters (2007) demonstrated that most of Canadian pre-service elementary teachers who accepted evolution tended to include it in their instructions. They also found that participants’ acceptance of evolution was positively associated with their views concerning inclusion of evolution in their instructions. Apart from, Asghar et al. (2007) pointed out some issues that participants consider when deciding about teaching of evolution, such as students’ and their

* Gülsüm Akyol. Tel.: +90-312-210-7508; fax: +90-312-210-7984 E-mail address: gakyol@metu.edu.tr.

© 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Prof. Hüseyin Uzunboylu.

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parents’ religious beliefs, pre-service teachers’ lack of understanding of evolution, their poor knowledge of pedagogical methods and type of school that they will work.

There is a large body of literature on understanding and acceptance of evolution; but, research commonly resulted in unsatisfactory levels of understanding and acceptance by individuals. This situation directed researchers’ attention to the factors thought to be related to understanding and acceptance of evolution. To date, prior research studies in the field of science education have addressed the presence of various factors associated with students’ understanding and/or acceptance of evolution. Among them are understanding of nature of science (Kim & Nehm, 2011; Rutledge & Warden, 2000), thinking dispositions (Deniz et al., 2008), and religious beliefs (Dagher & BouJaoude, 1997; Graf, Tekkaya, Kılıç, & Özcan, 2011; Sinclair, Pendarvis, & Baldwin, 1997). Besides, existing literature gives some clues that socioeconomic and demographic variables are also influential on learners’ understanding and acceptance levels of evolution, these factors thought be year at university, income level, parents’ education level, access to the internet at home, location/residence, and gender (e.g., Deniz et al., 2008; Meir, Perry, Herron, & Kingsolver, 2007; Peker et al., 2010). For example, Peker et al. (2010) investigated the effects of socioeconomic factors on undergraduates’ understanding and acceptance of evolutionary theory by using number of books, ownership of a computer, regular access to the Internet at home, family income, and parents’ level of education as indicators of socioeconomic factors. The number of books at home and income level found to have any effect on neither on understanding nor on acceptance levels of evolution. Having a computer at home, while having a significant effect on understanding, it did not affect the undergraduates’ acceptance level. Regular access to the Internet at home, however, reported to have significant effect on both the understanding and acceptance of levels of the evolutionary theory. While education level mothers significantly affected undergraduates’ acceptance level, it had no effect understanding of evolution. Father’s education level, on the other hand, found to have no effect either on understanding or on acceptance of evolution. As far as gender difference is considered, the study indicated significant differences between male and female students only for the acceptance level of the evolutionary theory. Their study revealed a statistically significant difference between freshmen and seniors with respect to understanding, whereas participants’ acceptance scores did not reach any significance level. In a study with pre-service Turkish biology teachers, Deniz et al. examined the possible factors associated with acceptance of evolutionary theory. Authors found a statistically significant association between parents’ educational level with acceptance of evolutionary theory. Students with well-read families tended to accept evolutionary theory compared to those coming from less-educated families. In Nehm and Schonfeld’ s (2007) study, although biology teachers had extensive background in the biological sciences, no relation between their prior academic preparation and knowledge of evolution, natural selection, or the nature of science was found.

Although factors related to understanding and acceptance of evolution has been studied extensively, there has not been a large research effort to examine socioeconomic and demographic variables in relation to acceptance and understanding of evolution as well as perception of introducing evolution into elementary classes. In addition, examining pre-service science teachers’ understanding and acceptance of evolution and perceived necessity of introducing evolution in relation to socioeconomic and demographic variables in developing countries may give valuable information in an effort to improve teaching and learning of evolution in elementary classes. Further, we see pre-service science teachers as having a key role in preparing young people to cope and deal with the controversial issues like evolution. Thus, considering the significant role of pre-service science teachers in teaching evolution in the future, this study aimed at investigating relationships between a set of socio-demographic variables and a set of understanding and acceptance of evolution and perceived necessity of introducing evolution into elementary classes.

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2. Method

2.1. Participants

A total of 415 pre-service science teachers (133 males and 282 females, mean age of 22.02 years) attending to the teacher training programs of seven public universities of Turkey. The majority of the participants were junior (74.46%) and 25.54% were senior pre-service science teachers.

2.2. Instruments

In this research, three instruments were utilized to collect data: The background characteristics survey, evolution content knowledge test and measure of acceptance of the theory of evolution.

2.2.1. The background characteristic survey The demographics survey was used to collect information about respondents’ gender, year in the elementary

science education program, family income, parent’s education level as well as employment status. Participants were also asked to rate their perceived level of interest, self-perceived knowledge, prior experience in evolution as well as perceived necessity of introducing evolution in elementary science classes.

2.2.2. Evolution content knowledge test

A modified form of 21-item evolution content knowledge test with one correct answer and four distracters (Rutledge & Warden, 2000; Bas, 2010), originally developed by Johnson (1985), was used to measure understanding of evolution regarding concepts; natural selection, extinction processes, homologous structures, coevolution, analogous structures, convergent evolution, intermediate forms, adaptive radiation, speciation, evolutionary rates, fossil record, biogeography, environmental change, genetic variability, and reproductive success. The test was translated and adapted into Turkish by Deniz et al. (2008).

2.2.3. Measure of acceptance of the theory of evolution (MATE)

A 20-item measure of acceptance of the theory of evolution (Rutledge & Warden, 1999) was utilized to assess participants’ acceptance of evolution. Attitude items were rated on a five-point Likert scales (‘1’ =strongly disagree, ‘2’= disagree, ‘3’ = undecided, ‘4’ = agree, ‘5’ =strongly agree). The MATE was translated and adapted into Turkish by the authors of this study.

3. Results

3.1. Inferential Statistics

Canonical correlation analysis was performed to investigate relationships between a set of socio-demographic variables and a set of understanding and acceptance of evolution and perceived necessity of introducing evolution. The socio-demographic variables set included gender, year in the elementary science education program, employment status and educational level of parents, family income level, perceived level of interest, self-perceived knowledge, and prior experience in evolution. The other set measured understanding and acceptance of evolution and perceived necessity of introducing evolution into elementary science classes. The first canonical correlation was .46 (36.4% overlapping variance), the second was .28 (7.6% overlapping variance). The remaining canonical correlation was effectively zero. With all three canonical correlations included, χ2(30) = 106.58, p <.05 and with the first canonical correlation removed, χ2(18) = 33.49, p <.05. The first two pairs of canonical variates, therefore, accounted for the significant relationships between the two sets of variables. Since the first canonical correlation and its corresponding pair of canonical variates had more explanatory power, they were used as a base for interpreting

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the relationship between pairs of canonical variates. With a cutoff correlation of .3, the first canonical variate was positively correlated with mother’s educational level (.53), father’s educational level (.33), and interest in evolution (.85); however, negatively correlated with gender (-.36). Among acceptance and understanding of evolution and perceived necessity of introducing evolution into elementary science classes, the second canonical variate was positively related with acceptance of evolution (.98) and understanding of evolution (.33). That is, pre-service science teachers with well-educated parents, females, and those with high levels of interest in evolution were more likely to have higher levels of understanding and acceptance of evolution compared to others.

Table 1. Correlations, standardized canonical coefficients, canonical correlations, percents of variance, and redundancies between socio-

demographic variables (set 1) and understanding and acceptance of evolution and perceived necessity of introducing evolution (set 2) variables and their corresponding canonical variates

First Canonical Variate Second Canonical Variate

SET 1 Correlation Coefficient Correlation Coefficient Gender -.36 -.13 .14 .23

Year in the Program .23 .22 .34 .46 Mother’s Employment Status .12 .04 -.19 -.16 Father’s employment Status -.02 -.03 .06 .08

Income .29 .01 .51 .75 Mother’s Educational Level .53 .43 -.12 -.54 Father’s Educational Level .33 -.07 .16 .28

Interest .85 -.14 -.11 -.09 Perceived Knowledge -.06 -.13 -.45 -.51

Prior Experience -.07 .22 -.21 -.22 % of Variance 13.91 7.34 Total=21.25

Redundancy 2.96 .56 Total=3.52 Set 2

Acceptance .98 .97 -.00 .21 Understanding .33 .17 -.68 -.57

Necessity .02 -.14 -.83 -.74 % of Variance 7.58 2.90 Total=10.48

Redundancy 35.67 38.15 Total=73.82 Canonical Correlation .46 .28

4. Discussion

The results that we obtained indicated that Turkish pre-service science teachers’ understanding and acceptance of evolution vary with respect to socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, parents’ educational level, and interest levels in evolution. That is, pre-service science teachers with well-educated parents, females, and those with high levels of interest in evolution tended to have higher levels of understanding and acceptance of evolution compared to others.

Our findings demonstrated that females were more likely to understand and accept evolution compared to males. This finding agrees with Peker et al.’s (2010) study that indicated a gender difference in favor of females in Turkish undergraduate’s acceptance of evolution. However, the authors failed to find a gender difference in participants’ understanding of evolution. Present findings, however, are in contrast to findings by Clément, Quessada, Laurent and Carvalho (2008) and Kim and Nehm (2011). Specifically, Kim and Nehm’s (2011) study, male Korean pre-service science teachers found to have higher levels of understanding and acceptance of evolution compared to females. Similarly, the study by Clément et al. (2008) indicated that male participants were a little more knowledgeable about some processes of evolution than females. It is obvious that available research regarding related issue produced mixed results and there needs to be large effort to clarify impact of gender on understanding

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and acceptance of evolution. Considering that gender difference in understanding and acceptance of evolution can be dependent on role of gender in cultural context, much research is needed in different cultural contexts to make generalizations for the sake of theoretical works and practical implications.

Pre-service science teachers with well-educated parents tended to have higher levels of understanding and acceptance of evolution. To our opinion, this finding seems to be reasonable as participants having well-educated parents are likely to have greater opportunity to access scientific resources that might result in higher levels of understanding and acceptance of evolution. Supporting the present finding, Deniz et al. (2008) found that parents’ educational level was significantly related with Turkish pre-service biology teachers’ acceptance of evolution. Besides, in their study, Peker et al. (2010) indicated that mothers’ educational level was positively associated with undergraduates’ acceptance of evolution but not with understanding of evolution. Besides, fathers’ educational level was not found to be associated with either understanding or acceptance of evolution. Much research is necessary to shed light on the role of parents’ educational level on understanding and acceptance of evolution.

Results of the present study also showed that pre-service science teachers who had higher levels of interest in evolution tended to have higher levels of understanding and acceptance of evolution. It is an expected result because participants with higher levels of interest in evolution probably studied more about evolution which, in turn might result in a higher level of understanding of evolution. It is also plausible to say that participants with higher levels of interest in evolution were more likely to have a higher level of acceptance of evolution.

As a result, based on the present findings, we suggest that pre-service science teachers who are males, have less-educated parents as well as have lower levels of interest in evolution should be given special attention in evolution education to improve their levels of understanding and acceptance of evolution.

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