Evolutionary theory constitutes the overarching concept in biology. There is hardly any other concept that is more complex, and causes more difficulties in learning and teaching. One instructional approach in optimizing the learning of complex topics is to use worked examples combined with self-explanation prompts that fit to the prior knowledge…

To promote teaching science through inquiry, the author wanted to use his experience in the Galápagos to design a lesson that allows students to immerse themselves in the essential science and engineering practices identified in the "Next Generation Science Standards," as they ask questions; analyze and interpret data; engage in argument…

Biologist and graphic novelist Jay Hosler has long been introducing young readers to biological subjects through entertaining narratives combining strongly fictional elements with nonfictional ones. Extensive application of fiction to nonfictional subject matter is uncommon, even in graphic novels, but Hosler's "The Sandwalk Adventures"…

This set of seven experiments examines reasoning about the inheritance and acquisition of physical properties in preschoolers, undergraduates, and biology experts. Participants (N = 390) received adoption vignettes in which a baby animal was born to one parent but raised by a biologically unrelated parent, and they judged whether the offspring…

A college science education instructor tells his students he rejects evolution. What should we think? The scene unfolds in one of the largest urban centers in the world. If we are surprised, why? Expanding on Federica Raia's (2012) first-hand experience with this scenario, I broaden her discussion by considering the complexity of science education…

Despite the importance of the theory of evolution (TE) to scientific knowledge, a number of misconceptions continue to be found among biology teachers. In this context, the first objective of this study was to identify the impact of professional development programme (PDP) on teachers' understanding of nature of science (NOS) and evolution and on…

Students often have misconceptions about natural selection as they misuse a direct causal schema to explain the process. Natural selection is in fact an emergent process where random interactions lead to changes in a population. The misconceptions stem from students' lack of emergent schema for natural selection. In order to help students…

Francis Galton, Charles Darwin's cousin, had wide and varied interests. They ranged from exploration and travel writing to fingerprinting and the weather. After reading Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," Galton reached the conclusion that it should be possible to improve the human stock through selective breeding, as was the…

In this study, we investigate museum visitor learning and engagement at an interactive visualization of an evolutionary tree of life consisting of over 70,000 species. The study was conducted at two natural history museums where visitors collaboratively explored the tree of life using direct touch gestures on a multi-touch tabletop display. In the…

This review essay focuses on Özgür Taskin's discussion of the theory of evolution (TOE), intelligent design (ID) and the convictions of fundamentalist science educators and students in his paper entitled: "An exploratory examination of Islamic values in science education: Islamization of science teaching and learning via…

The "cis"-regulatory hypothesis is one of the most important claims of evolutionary developmental biology. In this paper I examine the theoretical argument for "cis"-regulatory evolution and its role within evolutionary theorizing. I show that, although the argument has some weaknesses, it acts as a useful example for the importance of current…

Darwinian evolution is difficult to understand because of conceptual barriers stemming from intuitive ideas. This study examined understanding of evolution in 52 students (M = 14.48 years, SD = 0.89) before and after a guided field trip to a natural history museum and in a comparison group of 18 students (M = 14.17 years, SD = 0.79) who did not…

Research Findings: Educational guidelines recommend a delayed, piecemeal approach to instruction on adaptation by natural selection. This approach is questionable given suggestions that older students' pervasive misunderstandings about adaptation are rooted in cognitive biases that develop early. In response to this, Kelemen et al. (2014) recently…

Science museums often introduce plays to liven up exhibits, attract visitors to specific exhibitions, and help visitors to "digest" difficult content. Most previous research has concentrated on viewers' learning outcomes. This study uses performance and spectator analyses from the field of theater studies to explore the link between…

Games have been used for a long time in teaching and learning. The increasing use of mobile phones makes it possible to link learning outside the classroom with augmented reality (AR). We tested how well the learning of conceptual models can be facilitated by AR games. We present a game designed for the in-service teacher-training workshop to…