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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 6, Issue 1, Article 6 (Jun., 2005) Ke-Sheng CHAN Case studies of Physics graduates' personal theories of evolution
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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 6, Issue 1, Article 6 (Jun., 2005) Ke-Sheng CHAN Case studies of Physics graduates' personal theories of evolution
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Introduction
"Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." (Dobzhansky, 1973, p. 125) Despite some disagreements among biologists over the intricate details about the mechanisms of evolution, it is now commonly agreed that the modern concept of evolution provides a unifying principle for understanding the history of life on earth, relationships among all living things, as well as the dependence of life on the physical environment (Rutherford & Ahlgren, 1990) and that an understanding of modern biology is incomplete without an understanding of evolution. Today, the modern neo-Darwinian synthesis of the theory of evolution, which is essentially a synthesis of Darwin’s evolution theory and Mendelian genetics that integrates both randomness and invariance into the evolutionary process (Brooks, 1983; Gould, 1980), is accepted by virtually all biologists. Due to its centrality to the overall understanding of biology and science in general, the neo-Darwinian synthesis of evolution has become such a basic and fundamental concept in science that it is regarded as common sense knowledge not only for biologists but also for scientists trained in all other areas of science.
Although it is generally believed that most scientists have at least a basic understanding of the theory of evolution, recent research in science education and the history of science suggests that it might not be the case. A review of relevant literature reveals that, contrary to popular belief, scientists, such as physicists, do not necessarily have a sound understanding of evolution and that the true nature of their common sense knowledge about evolution requires further investigation.
This paper reports an interview case study with two physics doctoral students designed to further explore these physics graduates' personal theories of evolution. Using four open-ended interview questions designed to tap students' ideas about basic concepts in evolution, this study sets out to explore these two physics graduates' conceptions about the mechanism of evolution and tries to describe, as clearly as possible, the main features of their personal theories of evolution based on in-depth analysis of their responses in the interviews. By comparing these two physics graduates' personal theories of evolution with the popular Lamarckian misconception held by many high school and college students today, this study also hopes to provide some further insights into the nature of physics graduates' common sense knowledge about the theory of evolution.
Copyright (C) 2005 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 6, Issue 1, Article 6 (Jun., 2005). All Rights Reserved.
