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Table 1 ACORNS Items

From: Do disciplinary contexts impact the learning of evolution? Assessing knowledge and misconceptions in anthropology and biology students

Taxon

Familiar

Unfamiliar

Non-human

Item 1: How would scientists explain how a descendant species of dolphin with a large brain evolved from an ancestral species of dolphin that lacked a large brain?a

Item 3: How would scientists explain how a descendant species of horse with a navicular evolved from an ancestral species of horse that lacked a navicular?a

Item 2: How would scientists explain how a descendant species of camel with long eyelashes evolved from an ancestral species of camel that lacked long eyelashes?a

Item 4: How would scientists explain how a descendant species of koala with dermatoglyphics evolved from an ancestral species of koala that lacked dermatoglyphics?a

Human

Item 5: How would scientists explain how a descendant species of human with a large brain evolved from an ancestral species of human that lacked a large brain?b

Item 7: How would scientists explain how a descendant species of human with a navicular evolved from an ancestral species of human that lacked a navicular?b

Item 6: How would scientists explain how a descendant species of human with long eyelashes evolved from an ancestral species of human that lacked long eyelashes?b

Item 8: How would scientists explain how a descendant species of human with dermatoglyphics evolved from an ancestral species of human that lacked dermatoglyphics?b

  1. aItems present on version 1 of the survey. Version 1 consisted of only non-human items and was assigned to half of the biology and anthropology student populations
  2. bItems present on version 2 of the survey. Version 2 consisted of only human items and was assigned to the other half of the biology and anthropology student populations