An exploration of computer-simulated evolution and small group discussion on pre-service science teachers' perceptions of evolutionary concepts

grantor: University of TorontoThe primary goal of this study was to explore how the use of a computer simulation of basic evolutionary processes, in combination with small-group discussions, affected Intermediate/Senior pre-service science teachers' perspectives of basic evolutionary concepts. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in a case study approach with 19 pre-service Intermediate/Senior science teachers at an Ontario university. Several sub-goals were explored. The first sub-goal was to assess Intermediate/Senior pre-service science teachers' current conceptions of evolution. The results indicated that approximately two-thirds of the participants had a poor understanding of basic evolutionary concepts, with only 2 of the 19 participants demonstrating a strong comprehension. These results were found to be very similar to comparable samples of subjects from other research. The second sub-goal was to explore the relationships among Intermediate/Senior pre-service science teachers' understanding of contemporary evolutionary concepts, their perspectives of the nature of science, and their intentions to teach evolutionary concepts in the classroom. Participants' knowledge of evolutionary concepts was found to be associated strongly with their intentions to teach evolution by natural selection ('r' = .42). However, knowledge of evolutionary concepts was not found to be associated with any particular science epistemology perspective. The third sub-goal was to analyze and to interpret the small-group discussions as members interacted with the simulation. The simulation was found to be highly engaging and a very effective method of encouraging participants to speculate, question, discuss and learn about important evolutionary concepts. Analyses of the discussions revealed that the simulation evoked a wide array of correct conceptions as well as misconceptions. The fourth sub-goal was to assess the extent to which creating a lesson plan on the topic of natural selection could affect Intermediate/Senior pre-service science teachers' conceptions of evolutionary theory. All of participants' lesson plans contained various types of misconceptions related to natural selection and overestimated what could be accomplished in a 70 minute period. The results are discussed with respect to the importance of prior knowledge, the influence of cognitive biases in learning evolutionary concepts and the role of computer simulations in obviating biases inherent in traditional curriculum materials used for teaching evolution.Ph.D