Articles

Knowledge of evolution and human diversity: a study among high school students of Rome, Italy

This research investigated the knowledge of the complex concept of evolution in a sample (n=1108) of final-year high school students of Rome. Particular attention was given to the evolution of Homo sapiens and to...

Authors: Fabrizio Rufo, Marco Capocasa, Veronica Marcari, Enzo D’arcangelo and Maria Enrica Danubio

Order matters: pre-assessments and student generated representations

People have preconceived notions about how the world works from personal experiences. When these notions are scientifically inaccurate they can encourage unintended learning outcomes. Thus assessing students’ ...

Authors: Kristy L Halverson, Carrie J Boyce and Jill D Maroo

Examining the evolution education literature with a focus on teachers: major findings, goals for teacher preparation, and directions for future research

The theory of evolution is the fundamental backbone to the discipline of biology, yet many students possess misunderstandings. The teacher is the most important school-based factor in student learning, and the...

Authors: Aaron J Sickel and Patricia Friedrichsen

The great chain of being is still here

Professional papers in evolutionary biology continue to host expressions in agreement with the pre-evolutionary metaphor of the scala naturae (the great chain of being), when contrasting ‘lower’ to ‘higher’ repre...

Authors: Emanuele Rigato and Alessandro Minelli

“It’s just a theory”: trainee science teachers’ misunderstandings of key scientific terminology

This article presents the findings from a survey of 189 pre-service science teachers who were asked to provide definitions of key scientific terms ('theory'; 'fact'; 'law'; 'hypothesis'). The survey was a scop...

Authors: James David Williams

Teaching ‘Evolution readiness’ to fourth graders

We describe a National Science Foundation-funded project called ‘Evolution Readiness’ that used computer-based interactive models as well as hands-on activities to help fourth grade students learn Darwin's mod...

Authors: Paul Horwitz, Cynthia A McIntyre, Trudilyne L Lord, Laura M O’Dwyer and Carolyn Staudt

Correcting some common misrepresentations of evolution in textbooks and the media

Topics related to evolution tend to generate a disproportionate amount of misunderstanding in traditional textbooks, other educational materials, and the media. This is not necessarily the fault of textbook an...

Authors: Kevin Padian

How should we teach tree-thinking? An experimental test of two hypotheses

Phylogenies are ubiquitous in college-level biology textbooks, yet many college students continue to struggle to interpret them correctly. Multiple activities and frameworks for teaching phylogenies have been ...

Authors: Sarah L Eddy, Alison J Crowe, Mary Pat Wenderoth and Scott Freeman

Evolution acceptance among pre-service primary teachers

The purpose of this study was to investigate evolution acceptance among pre-service primary teachers who opted to study biology (n=35). In this part of their teacher training course they were introduced to the th...

Authors: Shagufta Arthur

Teaching the role of mutation in evolution by means of a board game

The board game ACAGATATA simulates how randomness originates biodiversity. An individual (genotype ACAGATATA) produces offspring with a chance of error during DNA replication (mutation) at each generation, sho...

Authors: André Eterovic and Charles Morphy D Santos

Integrative cases for teaching evolution

Current university-level evolution instruction often suffers from a disjointed curriculum that separates molecular and ecological processes, at times omitting the former altogether. At the same time, national ...

Authors: Peter JT White, Merle Heidemann, Miles Loh and James J Smith

Teaching undergraduate students to draw phylogenetic trees: performance measures and partial successes

An in-depth understanding of the process and products of evolution is an essential part of a complete biology education. Phylogenetic trees are a very important tool for understanding evolution and presenting ...

Authors: Aimee K Young, Brian T White and Tara Skurtu

Does evolution compromise Christian faith? R. J. Asher’s Evolution and Belief

Authors: Egbert Giles Leigh Jr

Geeking out with Darwin

Darwin: A Graphic Biography provides a lighthearted, generally accurate, and overall delightful account of Darwin’s life and work in the form of a graphic novel.

Authors: Glenn Branch

Canadian and Pakistani Muslim teachers’ perceptions of evolutionary science and evolution education

This study seeks to explore the intersections among religion, science and education in Muslim teachers’ science classrooms in diverse contexts. Specifically, it examines the ways in which the scientific theory...

Authors: Anila Asghar

Incorporating the current sixth great mass extinction theme into evolution education, science education, and environmental education research and standards

Humanity is currently in the midst of a self-induced great mass extinction of plant and animal life that is having and will have profound effects on the future biological evolution of Earth’s species if enviro...

Authors: Ron Wagler

Do mudskippers and lungfishes elucidate the early evolution of four-limbed vertebrates?

Recently, the origin of four-limbed vertebrates (tetrapods) was re-assessed, based on footprints and trackways that were made by early land animals almost 400 million years (my) ago. That is 18 my earlier than...

Authors: Ulrich Kutschera and J Malcolm Elliott

To teach is to learn: high-school students, local university and informal science educators collaborate in communicating science to the public

Informal education, especially if in collaboration with formal education, can be an important vehicle for communicating current research in science to the public as well as significant in drawing the young nea...

Authors: Veronica Padovani, Carlyn S Buckler, Alessandro F Gualtieri and Alessandro Vescogni

Is Oklahoma really OK? A regional study of the prevalence of biological evolution-related misconceptions held by introductory biology teachers

Biological evolutionary explanations pervade all biological fields and bring them together under one theoretical umbrella. Whereas the scientific community embraces the theory of biological evolution, the gene...

Authors: Tony B Yates and Edmund A Marek

Effects of evolutionary history on adaptation in bean beetles, a model system for inquiry-based laboratories

Current reforms in undergraduate biology education are advancing research experiences in laboratory courses. Such experiences in evolutionary biology have largely been limited to microbial systems.

Authors: Christopher W Beck, Lawrence S Blumer and Jakob Habib

From bacteria to Saint Francis to Gaia in the symbiotic view of evolution

Authors: Massimo Debernardi and Emanuele Serrelli

The variables related to public acceptance of evolution in the United States

The current study explores variables related to public acceptance of evolution in the United States by state. Data on acceptance of evolution, religiosity, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (ST...

Authors: Benjamin C Heddy and Louis S Nadelson

Muslims and evolution: a study of Pakistani physicians in the United States

This study investigated the views of Pakistani-American medical doctors regarding biological evolution. We used a mixed-methods approach, chiefly consisting of a short interview that presented evolution in the...

Authors: Donald Everhart and Salman Hameed

Editorial: Evolution: Education and Outreach goes open access!

Authors: Gregory Eldredge and Niles Eldredge

Editorial

Authors: Niles Eldredge

Paleontology and Evolution in the News

This paper is a review of recent media publications and journal articles about evolution and paleontology.

Authors: Sidney Horenstein

Evolution and Biogeography: Leading Students in Darwin’s and Wallace’s Footsteps

Exploring life’s diversity and geography’s effect on it was central to Darwin and Wallace’s parallel discoveries of evolution. Those discoveries required the two to overcome their own misconceptions about spec...

Authors: Joshua Rosenau

Virtual Fossils: a New Resource for Science Communication in Paleontology

Computer-aided 3-D reconstruction of fossils, or virtual paleontology, is an increasingly common and powerful technique. It is now regularly used for research in paleontology, yet to date has impacted little o...

Authors: Imran A. Rahman, Keith Adcock and Russell J. Garwood

From Tree to Map: Using Cognitive Learning Theory to Suggest Alternative Ways to Visualize Macroevolution

Diagrams can be important tools for communicating about evolution. One of the most common visual metaphors that unites a variety of diagrams that describe macroevolution is a tree. Tree-based diagrams are desi...

Authors: Sonia Stephens

Influence of Sociocultural Factors and Acceptance of Creationism in the Comprehension of Evolutionary Biology in Freshman Brazilian Students

The creationist movements in Brazil, although considered weak, are on the increase. The Brazilian legislation neither imposes any objection in teaching evolution nor obliges the teaching of creationism as an a...

Authors: Pierre R. Penteado, Karine F. Kavalco and Rubens Pazza

Teaching Tree Thinking to College Students: It’s Not as Easy as You Think

The ability to understand and reason with tree-of-life diagrams (i.e., cladograms), referred to as tree thinking, is an essential skill for biology students. Yet, recent findings indicate that cladograms are c...

Authors: Brenda C. Phillips, Laura R. Novick, Kefyn M. Catley and Daniel J. Funk

Evolution and the Cumulative Nature of Science

One of the characteristics of science is its cumulative nature. As more discoveries are made and more is learned, we progressively come to a more and more complete understanding of the physical universe. Evolu...

Authors: David Zeigler

The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Where, When and How?

Authors: Antonio Lazcano

Introducing "The Origin of Life"

Authors: Niles Eldredge and Gregory Eldredge

Erratum to: A Review of Undergraduate Evolution Education in U.S. Universities: Building a Unifying Framework

Authors: Jenny D. Lloyd-Strovas and Ximena E. Bernal

Witnessing Phenotypic and Molecular Evolution in the Fruit Fly

This multi-day exercise is designed for a college genetics and evolution laboratory to demonstrate concepts of inheritance and phenotypic and molecular evolution using a live model organism, Drosophila simulans. ...

Authors: Caiti S. S. Heil, Mika J. Hunter, Juliet K. F. Noor, Kathleen Miglia, Brenda Manzano-Winkler, Shannon R. McDermott and Mohamed A. F. Noor

Human Evolution and Education in Slovene Schools

This article discusses the importance and benefits of providing lower secondary school students with some knowledge of human evolution and its educational context. The author surveyed science teaching in secon...

Authors: Barbara Bajd

Cognitive Apartheid: On the Manner in Which High School Students Understand Evolution without Believing in Evolution

High school science students are often unwilling to learn about evolution due to a perceived conflict with their religious beliefs. Other students are able to understand evolution despite the fact that they do...

Authors: Ronald S. Hermann

Where Do I Come From? Using Student’s Mitochondrial DNA to Teach About Phylogeny, Molecular Clocks, and Population Genetics

Phylogenetic reconstruction, divergence times, and population genetics are critical concepts for a complete understanding of evolution. Unfortunately, students generally lack “tree-thinking” skills and are oft...

Authors: Luana S. Maroja and Jason A. Wilder

Darwinism and the Origin of Life

Historically, ideas on the origins of life have been mingled with evolutionary explanations. Darwin avoided discussing the origin of the very first species in public although he acknowledged the possibility th...

Authors: Juli Peretó and Jesús Català

Beads and Dice in a Genetic Drift Exercise

Natural selection driving adaptive changes is a powerful and intuitive explanation for the evolution of the living world around us. Evolution at the molecular level, however, is chiefly ruled by random genetic...

Authors: Claudia A. M. Russo and Carolina M. Voloch

Oyun: A New, Free Program for Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Tournaments in the Classroom

Evolutionary applications of game theory present one of the most pedagogically accessible varieties of genuine, contemporary theoretical biology. We present here Oyun (oy-oon,

Authors: Charles H. Pence and Lara Buchak

Historical Biogeography: Evolution in Time and Space

Biogeography is the discipline of biology that studies the present and past distribution patterns of biological diversity and their underlying environmental and historical causes. For most of its history, biog...

Authors: Isabel Sanmartín

A Global Perspective of the Variables Associated with Acceptance of Evolution

The controversy of biological evolution due to conflicts with personal beliefs and worldviews is a phenomenon that spans many cultures. Acceptance of evolution is essential for global advancement in science, t...

Authors: Benjamin C. Heddy and Louis S. Nadelson

The Geography of Evolution and the Evolution of Geography

Insights into the geography of life have played a fundamental role in motivating major developments in evolutionary biology. The focus here is on outlining some of these major developments, specifically in the...

Authors: Bruce S. Lieberman

The Geography of Speciation: Case Studies from Birds

Our understanding of the origin of species, or speciation, is sometimes viewed as incomplete, a “mystery of mysteries.” We in fact know a lot about speciation, especially when we consider its two basic compone...

Authors: Robert M. Zink

Invasive Species and Evolution

Invasive species are a major threat to modern ecosystems and cause billions of dollars in economic damage annually. The long-term impacts of species invasions are difficult to assess on ecological timescales a...

Authors: Alycia L. Stigall

Using Marine Snails to Teach Biogeography and Macroevolution: The Role of Larvae and Dispersal Ability in the Evolution and Persistence of Species

While some marine animals are capable of traveling great distances, many have limited mobility as adults and spend the majority of their lifetimes in a small geographical area or may even be cemented to a sing...

Authors: Jonathan R. Hendricks

The (Paleo)Geography of Evolution: Making Sense of Changing Biology and Changing Continents

During the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, Charles Darwin quickly realized that geographic isolation led to significant changes in the adaptation of local flora and fauna (Darwin 1859). Genetic isolation is one of t...

Authors: Joseph G. Meert

Species’ Geographic Distributions Through Time: Playing Catch-up with Changing Climates

Species’ ranges are often treated as a fixed characteristic, rather than a fluid, ever-changing manifestation of their ecological requirements and dispersal abilities. Paleontologists generally have had a bett...

Authors: A. Townsend Peterson and Bruce S. Lieberman