Students' view of Biological Evolution

partial results and questionnaire validation

Abstract

Teaching biological evolution in context enables social reflections and contributes to discussions for transformative education, distant from the recurrent memorization in the Biology course. However, Brazilian studies reveal conflicts for acceptance and understanding of some elementary notions about biological evolution in the last thirty years. Thus, this study aims to develop and validate a questionnaire about perception and understanding of evolution in freshmen undergraduate students, to verify which conceptions these students have after primary education. The instrument consisted of forty questions on a 4-point Likert scale of agreement. The questionnaire went through three steps of validation and pre-test application before being applied to ninety-eight students. Results showed students' acceptance of biological evolution. We observed misconceptions related to the understanding of evolution as progress and explained by use and disuse. Through Principal Component Analysis, five components validated by Cronbach's alpha were identified. These results indicate that it is still necessary to take a careful look at the teaching of biological evolution in primary education, given the persistent misunderstandings. Biological evolution is Biology’s groundwork, therefore more research, teaching materials, and strategies are necessary to help teachers and students understand this subject.