Brazilian teachers’ views and experiences regarding teaching biodiversity in an evolutionary and phylogenetic approach

Abstract

Background: The centrality of evolution to the biological sciences is recognized by many authors. Given the importance of evolution to biology, we intend to understand if, and how, science and biology teachers teach about biodiversity from an evolutionary perspective. In the first part of the research (Study 1), teachers from all geographic regions of Brazil (n = 147) answered a questionnaire containing both open-ended and Likert scale items in order to compare biodiversity-related contents to evolution. Considering the results obtained, a second study sought to analyze what challenges and possibilities Brazilian teachers who were enrolled in a continuing professional development course find in their classroom practices and the teaching materials they use when approaching cladograms while teaching about the diversity of organisms, as well as the experiences they had with cladograms during their education. These teachers responded to open-ended questionnaires concerning their experiences when learning and teaching about cladograms. Results: Findings in Study 1 revealed that the concepts with the least emphasis among teachers were those related to macroevolution and phylogenetics. We found in Study 2 that teachers recognize cladograms as an important biological representation. In general, they approach it in biology and science classes, but often not relating it to topics concerning biodiversity. Teachers reported using multiple resources for teaching about cladograms, but textbooks were the most used teaching material. However, teachers reported that textbooks do not approach the theme sufficiently enough and mentioned it as a challenge. They also reported learning about phylogenetic content during teacher education but did not discuss aspects regarding teaching about cladograms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that it is important that teacher education courses and new teaching materials consider the importance of cladograms and the specificities of phylogenetics within the teaching context.