Teaching Practices and Views of Evolution Instructors at Post-Secondary Institutions

Abstract

Background: The United States is ranked very low in acceptance of evolution among the public as compared to other countries, even though based on content standards, students should be exposed to evolutionary theory by the time they graduate from secondary school. Many studies have focused on how evolutionary theory is taught at the secondary level and the perspectives of the teachers. However, much less is known about these same issues in higher education. This study used a survey to collect responses from post-secondary instructors in the United States about how evolution is taught and how the individuals teaching the evolution courses perceive the theory and its role in shaping life on earth. Results: Unlike secondary schools, there was much more consistency between the evolution curricula and attitudes of the instructors toward evolutionary theory at these post-secondary institutions. All types of institutions offer evolution-based courses or courses with evolution as a major topic of discussion at the introductory level, and most 4-year institutions also offer upper level evolution courses. Courses of all institution types address the same core elements of evolution. The vast majority of instructors accept the theory of evolution by natural selection as a biological explanation of the diversity of life on earth, although a small number still hold sympathetic views towards the teaching of Creationism and Intelligent Design. Conclusions: Despite having such consistency among post-secondary instructors, college graduates as well as the public, remain diverse in their acceptance and understanding of evolutionary principles. Engaging student misconceptions and providing evidence for evolution can have an impact on many students, but there is still a sizable portion of the population that remains resistant. With the limited success that current evolution pedagogy is having on post-secondary students, it is important to focus research on improving teaching and advocacy in order to increase the impact that college instruction has on students' acceptance of evolution.