This study investigated the influence of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching macroevolution on non-science majors' knowledge of macroevolution and evolution acceptance. The nature and sources of an experienced faculty member's PCK and instruction as enacted PCK (Park & Oliver, 2008) were examined to consider the influence of these…

I examine a unique Elementary Mathematics Lead Teacher program entering its second decade of operation. The program is based in a large, urban, Midwestern school district, with the vision of developing a cadre of teacher leaders to support mathematics education. The district's professional development content was conventional, including both…

Darwinian evolution is a robustly supported scientific theory. Yet creationists continue to challenge its teaching in American public schools. Biology teachers in all 50 states are responsible for teaching science content standards that include evolution. As products of their backgrounds and affiliations teachers bring personal attitudes and…

This is a collective case study seeking to develop detailed descriptions of how programming an agent-based simulation influences a group of 8th grade students' model-based inquiry (MBI) by examining students' agent-based programmable modeling (ABPM) processes and the learning outcomes. The context of the present study was a biology unit on…

In order to eliminate student misconceptions concerning biological evolution, it is important to identify their sources. The purposes of this study were to: (a) identify biological evolution-related misconceptions held by Oklahoma public high school Biology I teachers; (b) identify biological evolution-related misconceptions held by Oklahoma…

This study evaluated the effects of a short-term professional development session. Forty volunteer high school biology teachers were randomly assigned to one of two professional development conditions: (a) developing deep content knowledge (i.e., control condition) or (b) evaluating student errors and understanding in writing samples (i.e.,…

In the United States, there is a national agenda to increase the number of qualified science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) professionals and a movement to promote science literacy among the general public. This project explores the association between formal human evolutionary biology education (HEB) and high school science class…

Recent anti-evolution legislation, in the form of Academic Freedom bills, has been introduced in many state legislatures over the last three years. The language in the proposed Academic Freedom bills may allow different interpretations of what can be taught in the science classrooms, and possibly spur parents to take advantage of their perceived…

This mixed-methods study examined the interactions and learning outcomes of science teachers in an online graduate-level course on evolutionary biology intended to improve their content knowledge and science lesson planning. Discussion posts made by the teachers in this seven-week course were analyzed for cognitive presence using the Community of…

Americans have wide ranging beliefs about evolution and the intersection of beliefs and science. Public high school science teachers have an equally diverse range of beliefs on these issues. This study sought to examine those beliefs and see how they influence ways that the teachers interact with their students. A survey was developed using a…

This dissertation synthesizes and analyzes an emblematic sample of three prevalent psychological approaches to organizational change and learning, giving particular attention to the conception of cognition and emotion. It also explores some of the philosophical and psychological assumptions undergirding these approaches. A web model depicting…

The purpose of this study was to explore the evolution science content used during college students' negotiation of biology-based socioscientific issues (SSI) and examine how it related to students' conceptual understanding and acceptance of biological evolution. Specific research questions were, (1a) what specific evolutionary science content do…

The purpose of this study was to determine relationships between New Jersey biology teachers' personal characteristics and religious backgrounds and the time spent and approach to teaching evolution. The research instrument chosen was a cross-sectional survey. Survey questions were presented in various forms: fill in, single response, Likert…

I have adopted complementary approaches to inferring human demographic history utilizing human and non-human genetic data as well as cultural data. These complementary approaches form an interdisciplinary perspective that allows one to make inferences of human history at varying timescales, from the events that occurred tens of thousands of years…

Evolution is a central underlying concept to a significant number of discourses in civilized society, but the complexity of understanding basic tenets of this important theory is just now coming to light. Knowledge about evolution is constructed from both formal and "free-choice" opportunities, like television. Nature programs are commonly…