Teaching Younger Students About Evolution: Examining the Evidence From a Three-Year Study

• In Event: Roundtable Session 129
  In Roundtable Session: Understandings of Evolution––And Other Contentious Topics

Abstract

This paper describes the research results of a federally-funded grant that developed a learning goals progression (LGP), hyper-models, and associated curriculum materials, aligned to national and state science standards, for teaching younger students about evolution. In addition to curriculum materials, a Concept Inventory for Evolution Readiness (CIER) aligned with the LGP was developed, validated, and refined using Rasch modeling. The study used a cohort design. The CIER was administered to one cohort of students who had not been exposed to the curriculum and to two cohorts that have been exposed. The administration of the CIER showed that the two cohorts of students exposed to the enhanced curriculum developed a better understanding of evolutionary concepts than students not exposed to these materials.

Authors

• Laura M. O'Dwyer, Boston College

• Yang Wang, Wisconsin Center for Education Research

• Shelagh M. Peoples, Boston College

• Katherine Shields, Boston College

• Paul Horwitz, The Concord Consortium