Learning, Understanding, and Acceptance: The Case of Evolution

The relationship between understanding an idea and accepting it as true has been little studied, yet this relationship is key to science education. The present study explored this relationship in the context of evolution by natural selection, which just 40 % of Americans accept as true. US undergraduates ’ understanding of evolution was assessed before and after a one-semester class on evolution and behavior and was compared to their acceptance of evolution. Participants who initially held inaccurate, need-based theories of evolution were less likely to accept evolution – both microevolution and macroevolution – than participants who held accurate, selection-based theories. After instruction, however, participants who had increased their understanding of evolution had increased their acceptance of evolution as well. These findings suggest that understanding evolution is essential to accepting it, and that teaching evolution is a necessary step to increasing its public acceptance