Evolution: Education and Outreach (Nov 2021)
European first-year university students accept evolution but lack substantial knowledge about it: a standardized European cross-country assessment
- Paul Kuschmierz,
- Anna Beniermann,
- Alexander Bergmann,
- Rianne Pinxten,
- Tuomas Aivelo,
- Justyna Berniak-Woźny,
- Gustav Bohlin,
- Anxela Bugallo-Rodriguez,
- Pedro Cardia,
- Bento Filipe Barreiras Pinto Cavadas,
- Umran Betul Cebesoy,
- Dragana D. Cvetković,
- Emilie Demarsy,
- Mirko S. Đorđević,
- Szymon M. Drobniak,
- Liudmyla Dubchak,
- Radka M. Dvořáková,
- Jana Fančovičová,
- Corinne Fortin,
- Momir Futo,
- Nicoleta Adriana Geamănă,
- Niklas Gericke,
- Donato A. Grasso,
- Ádám Z. Lendvai,
- Evangelia Mavrikaki,
- Andra Meneganzin,
- Athanasios Mogias,
- Andrea Möller,
- Paulo G. Mota,
- Yamama Naciri,
- Zoltán Németh,
- Katarzyna Ożańska-Ponikwia,
- Silvia Paolucci,
- Péter László Pap,
- Maria Petersson,
- Barbara Pietrzak,
- Telmo Pievani,
- Alma Pobric,
- Juris Porozovs,
- Giulia Realdon,
- Xana Sá-Pinto,
- Uroš B. Savković,
- Mathieu Sicard,
- Mircea T. Sofonea,
- Andrej Sorgo,
- Alexandru N. Stermin,
- Ioan Tăușan,
- Gregor Torkar,
- Lütfullah Türkmen,
- Slavica Tutnjević,
- Anna E. Uitto,
- Máté Varga,
- Mirna Varga,
- Lucia Vazquez-Ben,
- Constantinos Venetis,
- Enrique Viguera,
- Lisa Christine Virtbauer,
- Albena Vutsova,
- Inmaculada Yruela,
- Jelle Zandveld,
- Dittmar Graf
Affiliations
- Paul Kuschmierz
- Institute for Didactics of Biology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
- Anna Beniermann
- Institute for Biology; Teaching and Learning Research in Biology Education, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin
- Alexander Bergmann
- Faculty of Life Science, Department of Biology, University of Leipzig
- Rianne Pinxten
- Didactica Research Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences & Behavioural Ecology & Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp
- Tuomas Aivelo
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, University of Helsinki
- Justyna Berniak-Woźny
- University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów
- Gustav Bohlin
- Public & Science (VA)
- Anxela Bugallo-Rodriguez
- Department of Pedagogy and Didactics, University of A Coruña
- Pedro Cardia
- Escola Superior de Educação, Politécnico do Porto
- Bento Filipe Barreiras Pinto Cavadas
- Department of Science and Mathematics, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém/School of Education
- Umran Betul Cebesoy
- Faculty of Education/Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Usak University
- Dragana D. Cvetković
- Chair of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade
- Emilie Demarsy
- Department of Botany and Plant Biology, University of Geneva
- Mirko S. Đorđević
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” - National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade
- Szymon M. Drobniak
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University
- Liudmyla Dubchak
- Department of Parliamentarism and Political Management, National Academy for Public Administration Under the President of Ukraine
- Radka M. Dvořáková
- Department of Teaching and Didactics of Biology, Charles University
- Jana Fančovičová
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, Trnava University
- Corinne Fortin
- Laboratory of Didactic André Revuz, University of Paris
- Momir Futo
- Institut Ruđer Bošković/Division of Molecular Biology
- Nicoleta Adriana Geamănă
- Department/Research Center in Systems Ecology and Sustainability, University of Bucharest
- Niklas Gericke
- Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Karlstad University
- Donato A. Grasso
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma
- Ádám Z. Lendvai
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen
- Evangelia Mavrikaki
- Primary Education Department, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- Andra Meneganzin
- Department of Biology (DiBio), University of Padua
- Athanasios Mogias
- Department of Primary Education, Democritus University of Thrace
- Andrea Möller
- Austrian Educational Competence Centre of Biology, University of Vienna
- Paulo G. Mota
- CIBIO, University of Porto
- Yamama Naciri
- Plant Systematics and Biodiversity Laboratory, Conservatoire et Jardin Botanique de Genève & University of Geneva
- Zoltán Németh
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen
- Katarzyna Ożańska-Ponikwia
- Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Bielsko-Biala
- Silvia Paolucci
- Laboratorio di Scienze Sperimentali
- Péter László Pap
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University
- Maria Petersson
- Department of Educational Studies, Karlstad University
- Barbara Pietrzak
- Faculty of Biology/Institute of Functional Biology and Ecology/Department of Hydrobiology, University of Warsaw
- Telmo Pievani
- Department of Biology (DiBio), University of Padua
- Alma Pobric
- Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo
- Juris Porozovs
- Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art, University of Latvia
- Giulia Realdon
- Geology Section - UNICAMearth Group, University of Camerino
- Xana Sá-Pinto
- Research Centre in Didactics and Technology in Teacher Training, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro
- Uroš B. Savković
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” - National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade
- Mathieu Sicard
- Institut des Sciences de l’évolution (UM, IRD, CNRS), Université de Montpellier
- Mircea T. Sofonea
- MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier
- Andrej Sorgo
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor
- Alexandru N. Stermin
- Department of Taxonomy and Ecology, Babeș-Bolyai University
- Ioan Tăușan
- Applied Ecology Research Centre, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
- Gregor Torkar
- Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana
- Lütfullah Türkmen
- Faculty of Education/Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Usak University
- Slavica Tutnjević
- Faculty of Philosophy, University of Banja Luka
- Anna E. Uitto
- Department of Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki
- Máté Varga
- Department of Genetics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
- Mirna Varga
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Osijek, University of Osijek
- Lucia Vazquez-Ben
- Department of Pedagogy and Didactics, University of A Coruña
- Constantinos Venetis
- School of Education, Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- Enrique Viguera
- Facultad de Ciencias/Departamento de Biologia Celular, Genetica y Fisiologia, Universidad de Malaga
- Lisa Christine Virtbauer
- School of Education, Universität Salzburg
- Albena Vutsova
- Faculty of Economic and Business Adminstration - FEBA, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
- Inmaculada Yruela
- Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
- Jelle Zandveld
- Institute of Education Biology , Utrecht University
- Dittmar Graf
- Institute for Didactics of Biology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12052-021-00158-8
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 22
Abstract
Abstract Background Investigations of evolution knowledge and acceptance and their relation are central to evolution education research. Ambiguous results in this field of study demonstrate a variety of measuring issues, for instance differently theorized constructs, or a lack of standardized methods, especially for cross-country comparisons. In particular, meaningful comparisons across European countries, with their varying cultural backgrounds and education systems, are rare, often include only few countries, and lack standardization. To address these deficits, we conducted a standardized European survey, on 9200 first-year university students in 26 European countries utilizing a validated, comprehensive questionnaire, the “Evolution Education Questionnaire”, to assess evolution acceptance and knowledge, as well as influencing factors on evolution acceptance. Results We found that, despite European countries’ different cultural backgrounds and education systems, European first-year university students generally accept evolution. At the same time, they lack substantial knowledge about it, even if they are enrolled in a biology-related study program. Additionally, we developed a multilevel-model that determines religious faith as the main influencing factor in accepting evolution. According to our model, knowledge about evolution and interest in biological topics also increase acceptance of evolution, but to a much lesser extent than religious faith. The effect of age and sex, as well as the country’s affiliation, students’ denomination, and whether or not a student is enrolled in a biology-related university program, is negligible. Conclusions Our findings indicate that, despite all their differences, most of the European education systems for upper secondary education lead to acceptance of evolution at least in university students. It appears that, at least in this sample, the differences in knowledge between countries reflect neither the extent to which school curricula cover evolutionary biology nor the percentage of biology-related students in the country samples. Future studies should investigate the role of different European school curricula, identify particularly problematic or underrepresented evolutionary concepts in biology education, and analyze the role of religious faith when teaching evolution.
Keywords