Learning Progress in Evolution Theory: Climbing a Ladder or Roaming a Landscape?

Autor/inn/en	Zabel, Jorg; Gropengiesser, Harald
Titel	Learning Progress in Evolution Theory: Climbing a Ladder or Roaming a Landscape?
Quelle	In: Journal of Biological Education, 45 (2011) 3, S.143-149 (7 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0021-9266
DOI	10.1080/00219266.2011.586714
Schlagwörter	Evolution; Theories; Science Education; Science Instruction; Teaching Methods; Writing (Composition); Learning; Cognitive Mapping; Secondary School Science; Grade 7; Cognitive Development; Student Attitudes; Feedback (Response) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Theory; Theorie; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Schreibübung; Lernen; School year 07; 7. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 07; Kognitive Entwicklung; Schülerverhalten
Abstract	The objective of this naturalistic study was to explore, model and visualise the learning progress of 13-year-old students in the domain of evolution theory. Data were collected under actual classroom conditions and with a sample size of 107 learners, which followed a teaching unit on Darwin's theory of natural selection. Before and after the teaching sequence, the students wrote texts that explained an evolutionary phenomenon. Their explanations for evolutionary change were analysed and categorised into nine different patterns. Furthermore, we contrasted these explanation patterns with the corresponding scientific conceptions. This resulted in five conceptual frontiers, each of them marking one major learning task. The actual learning progress of the sample group was visualised as learning trajectories on a conceptual landscape. Our findings indicate that learning to explain evolution is a very individual process where the students depart from several distinct ideas and take different trajectories. The method of mapping a content-specific learning progress within a mental landscape may be advantageous for other domains of science teaching, too. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10