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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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Conclusion and implications
Taken as a whole, this study reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the two physics doctoral students interviewed did not have a basic understanding about the theory of evolution. Their common sense knowledge about the theory of evolution is, in many respects, very similar to the popular "intuitive Lamarckism" shared by many contemporary high school and college students. Instead of gaining a sound understanding about the two-process neo-Darwinian synthesis of evolution (the theory of evolution by natural selection and random genetic changes) from their previous biology education, they managed to construct a deceptively simple and coherent single-process "physicist" synthesis of evolution (the theory of evolution by environmentally driven adaptation) consisting of the following four internally consistent misconceptions.
(1) Evolution of traits over time occurs as a result of environmentally induced and directed adaptation by organisms.
(2) The quality of traits changes gradually over generations in evolution.
(3) Acquired traits can be inherited.
(4) Variation within populations is of little significance in evolution.The above finding echoes the earlier finding of a large-scale survey study by Showers (1993) that scientists (such as physicists) often do not have adequate knowledge about basic scientific concepts (such as evolution) outside their area of professional expertise. Together, these findings signal the failure of formal school biology education in helping contemporary physics students achieve genuine scientific understanding of evolution which, according to Rutherford & Ahlgren (1990), is one of the basic and fundamental concepts in science outside of physics that all scientific literate persons must understand.
Since, as discussed earlier, the principal obstacle that prevents the students from developing a genuine scientific understanding of evolution is their lack of awareness of their existing misconceptions about adaptation and evolution, a potentially effective way to improve the situation is to help students recognize and unlearn their misunderstanding about evolution through conceptual change teaching in formal school biology education. For instance, one can use the various techniques of conceptual change teaching (see Hewson, 1992) to help students recognize the inadequacy of their misinterpretation of the meaning of "adaptation" in evolution through personal reflection and discussion, evaluate and differentiate its various meanings in different contexts and revise/discard their current interpretation accordingly. While there is no guarantee that conceptual change teaching will help students arrive at the desired scientific view of evolution, it could at least help them become aware of the inadequacy of their existing misconceptions about evolution and seriously consider adopting other alternatives.
Finally, it is important to note that the inability of conceptual change teaching to make all students arrive at the modern scientific view of evolution must not be considered as a serious defect. After all, as Richard Peters (1966) once reminded us, the aim of education is not to make all students arrive at a particular view without thinking but to help them travel, rationally and knowingly, with a reasonable view.
Copyright (C) 2005 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 6, Issue 1, Article 6 (Jun., 2005). All Rights Reserved.
