Teleological reasoning, not acceptance of evolution, impacts students\u2019 ability to learn natural selection

M Elizabeth Barnes,E Margaret Evans,Randolph M Nesse,Sara E Brownell,Ashley Hazel

doi:10.1186/s12052-017-0070-6

Abstract

BackgroundHow acceptance of evolution relates to understanding of evolution remains controversial despite decades of research. It even remains unclear whether cultural/attitudinal factors or cognitive factors have a greater impact on student ability to learn evolutionary biology. This study examined the influence of cultural/attitudinal factors (religiosity, acceptance of evolution, and parents’ attitudes towards evolution) and cognitive factors (teleological reasoning and prior understanding of natural selection) on students’ learning of natural selection over a semester-long undergraduate course in evolutionary medicine.MethodPre-post course surveys measured cognitive factors, including teleological reasoning and prior understanding of natural selection, and also cultural/attitudinal factors, including acceptance of evolution, parent attitudes towards evolution, and religiosity. We analyzed how these measures influenced increased understanding of natural selection over the semester.ResultsAfter controlling for other related variables, parent attitude towards evolution and religiosity predicted students’ acceptance of evolution, but did not predict students’ learning gains of natural selection over the semester. Conversely, lower levels of teleological reasoning predicted learning gains in understanding natural selection over the course, but did not predict students’ acceptance of evolution.ConclusionsAcceptance of evolution did not predict students’ ability to learn natural selection over a semester in an evolutionary medicine course. However, teleological reasoning did impact students’ ability to learn natural selection.

Highlights

Introduction and backgroundRecent research suggests that when a topic is at odds with one’s cultural identity a greater understanding of that topic does not increase acceptance of that topic (Kahan 2015)
We summarize research on evolutionary medicine as a Barnes et al Evo Edu Outreach (2017) 10:7 potential teaching tool for increasing understanding of natural selection, describe the differences between terms used in evolution education that are often confused and conflated
(2) the misconceptions could be conceptualized as teleological; in particular, we focused on items that implied a goal directed process, a key feature of teleological reasoning identified by Mayr (1982, p. 48) and (3) the items had reasonable reliability

Summary

Introduction

Introduction and backgroundRecent research suggests that when a topic is at odds with one’s cultural identity a greater understanding of that topic does not increase acceptance of that topic (Kahan 2015). We review studies of how cultural/ attitudinal and cognitive factors influence understanding and acceptance of evolution. We describe a study that explores the influence of cultural/attitudinal factors and cognitive factors on students’ acceptance of evolution at the start of an evolutionary medicine course and how these factors influence students’ ability to learn natural selection over the course. How acceptance of evolution relates to understanding of evolution remains controversial despite decades of research It even remains unclear whether cultural/attitudinal factors or cognitive factors have a greater impact on student ability to learn evolutionary biology. This study examined the influence of cultural/attitudinal factors (religiosity, acceptance of evolution, and parents’ attitudes towards evolution) and cognitive factors (teleological reasoning and prior understanding of natural selection) on students’ learning of natural selection over a semesterlong undergraduate course in evolutionary medicine

Methods

Results

Conclusion