ERIC Number: EJ1177892
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1029-8457
EISSN: N/A
Use of Confidence Scales in Analysing Unscientific Ideas about Evolution among Religious Jewish Students
Kagan, Taryn; Sanders, Martie
African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, v17 n1-2 p38-49 2013
This paper reports on an investigation of two inter-related but different matters, one of interest to science education researchers and teachers in general, and the other to those teaching about evolution. The first was motivated by the dilemma facing teachers who want to diagnose learners' prior knowledge before teaching and are concerned about the teaching time needed to identify existing ideas in a valid way. The paper reports on four benefits of adding a confidence scale to a true-false quiz which is quick and easy to use for diagnostic purposes. The second aspect of the study was motivated by the problems experienced by many religious students when they face the challenge of learning about evolution. The nature and extent of prior ideas of 32 grade 12 students at a religious Jewish school in South Africa are identified and discussed within a framework of border-crossing, as religious students learning about evolution might be expected to have difficulties functioning in a science context which they might perceive to conflict with their religious world-view. Although the frequency of unscientific ideas about mechanisms of evolution was high, as expected from students who had not been taught the topic, erroneous ideas typically associated with understanding the nature of science, as well as some associated with religious beliefs, were unexpectedly low.
Descriptors: Evolution, Science Instruction, Jews, Judaism, Religious Factors, Prior Learning, Foreign Countries, Student Attitudes, Grade 12, High School Students, Correlation, Scientific Principles, Beliefs, Biology, Diagnostic Tests, Questionnaires, Misconceptions
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 12
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A