IS THE AGE OF THE EARTH ONE OF OUR "SOREST TROUBLES?" STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ABOUT DEEP TIME AFFECT THEIR ACCEPTANCE OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
IS THE AGE OF THE EARTH ONE OF OUR "SOREST TROUBLES?" STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ABOUT DEEP TIME AFFECT THEIR ACCEPTANCE OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00911.x
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发表时间：
2010-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Moore, Randy
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cotner, Sehoya;Brooks, D. Christopher;Moore, Randy
方法与调查工具2009年，我们对明尼苏达大学一门非专业生物入门课程的400名学生进行了电子调查。由于这门课程是该大学所有本科生必修的少数几个选修课之一，我们假设调查人群代表所有学生(政治、宗教和人口统计学上)，生物科学学院注册的学生除外。可选的调查是在课程开始前完成的，包括由Rutledge和Sadler(2007)开发和验证的20个项目的进化论接受度(Mate)，以及我们自己的10个项目的进化知识考试(KEE；Moore等人)。(2009a)，以及一些旨在衡量学生的宗教和政治偏好的项目。这对情侣包括“地球的年龄不到两万年”和“人类是进化过程的产物”等说法，学生们注意到他们在五分利克特量表上的一致程度(从“强烈同意”到“强烈不同意”)。KEE试题是根据内部考试数据库修改的，符合非专业学生的考试经验，旨在评估学生对进化论基本原理的理解--例如，如何衡量适合度，作为进化变化的一种机制的自然选择等(附录I)。KEE项目中没有一项具体涉及地球的年龄或进化时间。我们还询问学生，他们在政治上是自由派、保守派还是中间派，他们是否不信教(无神论者或不可知论者)，或者，如果信教，他们是进步/自由派、东正教还是中间派。学生可以忽略问题，他们的回答对学生的成绩没有影响。答复率因调查项目不同而不同，多达195名学生(几乎占目标群体的50%)完成了KEE，只有124名学生对某些配偶项目做出了回应。这项调查和随后的数据收集得到了明尼苏达大学机构审查委员会的批准。
MethodsPOPULATION AND SURVEY INSTRUMENT In 2009, we electronically surveyed 400 students enrolled in several sections of a nonmajors introductory biology course at the University of Minnesota. Because the course is one of a few options required of all undergraduates at the University, we assumed the survey population is representative of all students (politically, religiously, and demographically), except for those enrolled in the College of Biological Sciences. The optional survey, which was completed before the start of classes, consisted of the 20-item Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) developed and validated by Rutledge and Sadler (2007), our own 10-item Knowledge of Evolution Exam (KEE; Moore et al. 2009a), and several items intended to gauge students’ religious and political preferences. The MATE consists of statements such as “the age of the Earth is less than 20,000 years” and “humans are the product of evolutionary processes,” to which students noted their level of agreement on a five-point Likert scale (from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”). The KEE questions were modified from an internal exam database, were authentic to the nonmajors’ test experience, and were designed to evaluate students’ understanding of basic tenets of evolutionary theory—for example, how fitness is measured, natural selection as a mechanism for evolutionary change, etc.(Appendix I). None of the KEE items specifically addresses the age of the Earth or evolutionary time. We also asked students whether they were politically liberal, conservative, or middle-of-the-road, and whether they were not religious (atheist or agnostic), or, if religious, were they progressive/liberal, orthodox, or middle-of-the-road. Students could ignore questions, and their responses had no impact on students’ grades. Response rate varied by survey item, with as many as 195 students (almost 50% of the targeted group) completing the KEE, and as few as 124 responding to some of the MATE items. The survey and subsequent data collection were approved by the University of Minnesota’s Institutional Review Board.