Texas and Massachusetts Biology Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Evolution

• In Event: Poster Session 15
  In Poster Session: The Lives of Teachers: Poster Session

Abstract

Goldston and Kyzer (2009) revealed community can impact the way a teacher views and treats evolution. The state of Texas, viewed as a community, differs vastly from Massachusetts in terms the cultural, political, religious and social landscapes that biology teachers work within.
A survey was conducted among 217 Massachusetts and 139 Texas in-service high school biology teachers to help provide a sense of the phenomena surrounding biology teachers in respect to how their attitudes towards the teaching of evolution are shaped.
The findings in this study suggest that community appears to be a powerful persuasive message and socialization experience that shapes the development of attitudes towards evolution for some educators, especially when it is highly intertwined with religion.

Author

• Richard Howarth, University of Massachusetts - Lowell