Table 2 Percent response to each statement
From: Still More “Fancy” and “Myth” than “Fact” in Students’ Conceptions of Evolution
# | Category | Statement | % Response | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||
1 | SF | There is lots of evidence against evolution.a | 8 | 14 | 26 | 42 | 10 | 0 |
2 | SF | Dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time in the past.a | 3 | 9 | 16 | 60 | 12 | 0 |
3 | SF | Humans and chimpanzees evolved separately from an ape-like ancestor. | 22 | 38 | 11 | 12 | 17 | 0 |
4 | LS | I have a clear understanding of the meaning of scientific study.a | 29 | 49 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
5 | ET | The theory of evolution correctly explains the development of life.a | 17 | 38 | 16 | 12 | 17 | 0 |
6 | LS | A scientific theory that explains a natural phenomenon can be defined as a “best guess”. | 12 | 28 | 22 | 23 | 15 | 0 |
7 | PE | Small population size has little or no effect on the evolution of a species. | 2 | 6 | 30 | 47 | 15 | 0 |
8 | PE | If two light-skinned people moved to Hawaii and got very tan their children would be more tan than they (the parents) were originally. | 5 | 11 | 19 | 54 | 11 | 0 |
9 | PE | Variation among individuals within a species is important for evolution. | 53 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
10 | PE | A species evolves because individuals want to.* | 2 | 6 | 27 | 52 | 13 | 0 |
11 | ET | Humanity came to be through evolution, which was controlled by God.a | 16 | 21 | 11 | 25 | 26 | 0 |
12 | PE | A species evolves because individuals need to.b | 31 | 35 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 0 |
13 | PE | I have a clear understanding of the term “fitness” when it is used in a biological sense.b | 20 | 33 | 17 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
14 | PE | Two of the most important factors that determine the direction of evolution are survival and reproduction.b | 53 | 36 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
15 | PE | New traits within a population appear at random.b | 10 | 30 | 33 | 12 | 15 | 0 |
16 | PE | The environment determines which new traits will appear in a population.b | 19 | 59 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
17 | PE | If two distinct populations within the same species begin to breed together this will influence the evolution of that species.* | 39 | 45 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
18 | PE | All individuals in a population of ducks living on a pond have webbed feet. The pond completely dries up. Over time, the descendants of the ducks will evolve so that they do not have webbed feet.b | 21 | 40 | 17 | 8 | 14 | 0 |
19 | PE | “Survival of the fittest” means basically that “only the strong survive”.b | 33 | 31 | 19 | 14 | 3 | 0 |
20 | ET | You cannot prove evolution happened.* | 11 | 16 | 29 | 28 | 16 | 0 |
21 | PE | Evolution cannot work because one mutation cannot cause a complex structure (e.g., the eye).* | 4 | 9 | 27 | 27 | 33 | 0 |
22 | PE | Evolution is always an improvement. | 6 | 20 | 34 | 25 | 15 | 0 |
23 | LS | A scientific theory is a set of hypotheses that have been tested repeatedly and have not been rejected. | 39 | 39 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
24 | PE | If webbed feet are being selected for, all individuals in the next generation will have more webbing on their feet than individuals in their parents’ generation.b | 17 | 33 | 18 | 10 | 22 | 0 |