Obstacles to learning the Darwinian model of evolution by natural selection in biology undergraduates in Argentina
Numerous studies show that learning the Darwin's model of evolution by natural selection is very difficult at all educational levels. Among the main factors that hinder such learning are the existence and resistance of certain alternative conceptions. This work presents the results of a strateg...
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| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | JOUR |
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| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_1697011X_v14_n3_p435_Galli |
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| Sumario: | Numerous studies show that learning the Darwin's model of evolution by natural selection is very difficult at all educational levels. Among the main factors that hinder such learning are the existence and resistance of certain alternative conceptions. This work presents the results of a strategy aimed at identifying general modes of reasoning - obstacles - that underlie many alternative conceptions of undergraduate biology students regarding adaptive evolution. For this purpose, the written responses to three problems were analyzed, and the structure of the explanations produced was then characterized. We have identified two major explanatory patterns, different conceptions and three main obstacles, which we have named i) reasoning centered on the individual, ii) linear causal reasoning and iii) common-sense teleology. In particular, the role of teleological thinking in reasoning about evolution has been analyzed in detail. |
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