Challenges of Understanding Macroevolution among Brazilian Biology Students and Continuing Education Efforts (original) (raw)
Related papers
Misconceptions About Evolution in Brazilian Freshmen Students
Evolution: Education and Outreach, 2010
Regarding such an important issue as our origin, as well as the origin of all biological diversity, it is surprising to realize that evolution still faces drawbacks in keeping its deserved notability as a unifying theory in biology. This does not happen because evolutionism lacks validity as a scientific theory, but rather because of several misconceptions regarding evolutionary biology that were and continue to be found in elementary and secondary education. Furthermore, mistaken evolutionary ideas also affect some philosophical and social issues. The aim of the present study was to evaluate knowledge about evolution among freshman students from distinct majoring areas at Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste do Paraná (UNICENTRO), Brazil. The research was carried out based on a ten-question questionnaire about evolution with distinct levels of difficulty, comprising the most observed misconceptions. In this study, 231 students attending classes in biological sciences (morning and evening schedule), exact sciences (agronomy, physics, chemistry, and math), and human sciences (history, geography, and pedagogy) were interviewed. The total average of right answers was 48.8%, and the highest average per course obtained was 58.7% from the students attending biological sciences (evening schedule). Although evolutionary biology and ecology are supposed to represent teaching guide issues according to the recommendations of the National Curricular Parameters for the Secondary School, the data obtained suggest that the evidence for evolution, the role of natural selection and random events, as well as the sources of variation, must be better focused at schools.
2013
This paper presents the results of the application of the international project "The Rel - evance of Science Education" (ROSE) on a nationwide scale in Brazil. The project in Brazil seeks to meet youngster's interest in science, technology, environmental problems, science classes and biolog- ical evolution. The data, drawn from 84 schools and 2365 students from all Brazilian states, indicat - ed Brazilian youth's views about science classes and biological evolution. Brazilians consider school science inte resting, although they do not consider it easy. In relation to a future job, Brazilian youth doesn't have interest in scientific career and with regards to the positioning about the theory of bio - logical evolution, Brazilian students do accept the evidence of natural evolution mechanisms, but still have doubts about the common ancestry.
This study aims to analyze conceptions of creationism and evolutionism among educators-in-training in the city of Formiga in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Data collection was conducted based on a questionnaire developed by the European research project BIOHEAD-CITIZEN. To explore possible regional influences, the data obtained in Formiga, MG, were compared with data collected in São Paulo state, in Brazil. The results show a greater prevalence of creationist ideas among students of the Faculty of Education in Formiga, MG, compared to the results for the state of São Paulo. This prevalence arises due to the influence of religious, cultural and social values, which may be related to deficiencies in how evolution is taught throughout elementary school. The influence that these educators-in-training will have on children in the future may cause difficulties in the latter's acquisition of scientific knowledge. This work is being funded by FAPEMIG. RESUMO O presente estudo tem ...
Evolution Education and the Rise of the Creationist Movement in Brazil, 2019
Latin American Studies • Education Evolution Education and the Rise of the Creationist Movement in Brazil examines how, in recent years, larger societal forces such as religion, media, and politics have shaped Brazil's educational landscape and impacted the teaching and learning of evolution within an increasingly polarized discourse. To this end, Alandeom W. Oliveira and Kristin L. Cook have assembled a number of educational scholars and practitioners, many of whom are based in Brazil, to provide up-close and in-depth accounts of classroom-based evolution instruction, teacher preparation programs, current educational policies, and commonly used school curricula. Contributors also present information on Brazilian teachers' and students' attitudes toward-and understanding of-evolution, emergent (mis) conceptions of evolution, and international comparisons of evolution acceptance. Across the three sections of this book, readers see a nation navigating the complexity of multiple spheres of thought about evolution and its role in the K-12 and postsecondary curricula. Suggesting the rise of an influential creationist movement in Brazil, this book illuminates the dynamic sociological processes at play in the educational sphere of Latin America in a globalized era that allows for rapid worldwide travel of competing ideologies. Scholars of Latin American studies, religion, education, sociology, and political science will find this book especially useful. CONTRIBUTORS
The concept of evolution is fundamental to the teaching of biological sciences. Nevertheless, it seems frequently neglected and/or forgotten in our classrooms and absent from the school syllabus. These difficulties are present today in the Portuguese educational system, especially concerning the issue of human evolution. To overcome this difficulty, a multidisciplinary pilot project entitled Playing with the Big Tree of Evolution was developed by a nonprofit association called Group of Studies in Human Evolution in Portuguese schools and in other public and private organizations. Combining non-formal and informal apprenticeship, the project is composed of a set of pedagogical and experimental activities that aim to promote the broad concept of human evolution as well as to demystify the anthropocentric perspective that places humans at the top of the chain of life.