Acceptance of Evolution and Human Evolution Among Community College Students

• In Event: Science Teaching and Learning: Postsecondary Science Education

Abstract

The opportunity to achieve scientific literacy is the right of students but the lack of acceptance of evolution among the general public in the United States complicates evolution education. In this study, 867 community college students were surveyed using aspects of validated instruments regarding their attitudes towards evolution, human evolution, and understanding of evolution. The results indicated that the community college students accepted evolution at a higher level than the general public, they accepted human evolution relatively less than evolution in general and that acceptance of evolution and human evolution are highly correlated. Students did not demonstrate a high degree of understanding of evolution but it was highly and moderately correlated with the acceptance of evolution and human evolution, respectively.

Author

• Meredith Anne Dorner, Irvine Valley College