Student teachers' understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science
The focus of this study was student teachers at a South African university enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programme and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), respectively. The purpose of this study was to explore students' understanding and acceptance of evolution and bel...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Education Association of South Africa
2015-05-01
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| Series: | South African Journal of Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002015000200007&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1828272830118100992 |
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| author | Joy Coleman Michéle Stears Edith Dempster |
| author_facet | Joy Coleman Michéle Stears Edith Dempster |
| author_sort | Joy Coleman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The focus of this study was student teachers at a South African university enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programme and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), respectively. The purpose of this study was to explore students' understanding and acceptance of evolution and beliefs about the nature of science (NOS), and to discover if these understandings and acceptances changed with the level of their studies. In so doing, we wished to determine if there is a relationship between their understanding of evolution and the NOS, and their level of acceptance of evolution. The study is located within a quantitative framework. Questionnaires were administered to pre-service teachers, who were enrolled in the School of Education. All participants had chosen Biology as their teaching specialisation. Three instruments were included in the questionnaires. The findings revealed that students in the B.Ed. programme have a poorer understanding of evolution and NOS than the graduate group (PGCE), and that there is no significant difference in understanding between different levels within the B.Ed. group. A further significant finding was that acceptance of evolution is independent of changes in conceptual understanding of evolution and independent of changes in beliefs about the NOS. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:13:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d5f3e36d26424f4c99f635a9fa87b3c2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:13:02Z |
| publishDate | 2015-05-01 |
| publisher | Education Association of South Africa |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Journal of Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-d5f3e36d26424f4c99f635a9fa87b3c22022-12-22T02:58:58ZengEducation Association of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Education2076-34332015-05-01352010910.15700/saje.v35n2a1079S0256-01002015000200007Student teachers' understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of scienceJoy Coleman0Michéle Stears1Edith Dempster2University of KwaZulu-NatalUniversity of KwaZulu-NatalUniversity of KwaZulu-NatalThe focus of this study was student teachers at a South African university enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programme and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), respectively. The purpose of this study was to explore students' understanding and acceptance of evolution and beliefs about the nature of science (NOS), and to discover if these understandings and acceptances changed with the level of their studies. In so doing, we wished to determine if there is a relationship between their understanding of evolution and the NOS, and their level of acceptance of evolution. The study is located within a quantitative framework. Questionnaires were administered to pre-service teachers, who were enrolled in the School of Education. All participants had chosen Biology as their teaching specialisation. Three instruments were included in the questionnaires. The findings revealed that students in the B.Ed. programme have a poorer understanding of evolution and NOS than the graduate group (PGCE), and that there is no significant difference in understanding between different levels within the B.Ed. group. A further significant finding was that acceptance of evolution is independent of changes in conceptual understanding of evolution and independent of changes in beliefs about the NOS.http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002015000200007&lng=en&tlng=enacceptancebeliefsevolutionnature of scienceunderstanding |
| spellingShingle | Joy Coleman Michéle Stears Edith Dempster Student teachers' understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science South African Journal of Education acceptance beliefs evolution nature of science understanding |
| title | Student teachers' understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science |
| title_full | Student teachers' understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science |
| title_fullStr | Student teachers' understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science |
| title_full_unstemmed | Student teachers' understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science |
| title_short | Student teachers' understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science |
| title_sort | student teachers understanding and acceptance of evolution and the nature of science |
| topic | acceptance beliefs evolution nature of science understanding |
| url | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002015000200007&lng=en&tlng=en |
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