The Relation of High School Biology Courses & Students' Religious Beliefs to College Students' Knowledge of Evolution

2011 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 222-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy Moore ◽  
Christopher Brooks ◽  
Sehoya Cotner
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
High School ◽  
Logistic Model ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
High School Biology ◽  
College Level ◽  
Knowledge Of Evolution ◽  
Biology Courses ◽  
Average Students

We examined how college students' knowledge of evolution is associated with their self-described religious beliefs and the evolution-related content of their high school biology courses. On average, students entering college know little about evolution. Religious beliefs, the absence of evolution-related instruction in high school, and the presence of creationism-related instruction in high school were all associated with significantly lower scores on an evolution exam. We present an ordered logistic model that helps to explain (1) students' diverse views and knowledge of evolution, and (2) why college-level instruction about evolution often fails to significantly affect students' views about evolution.

From Cambridge to the Amazon in a Few Simple Steps

2011 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 401-406
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Janes ◽  
Kelly Swing ◽  
Leah M. Cataldo
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Hypothesis Generation ◽  
High School Biology ◽  
College Level ◽  
Field Station ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Biology Courses ◽  
Student Travel

Immersive experiences contribute to and enhance diverse curricula. Although more commonly applied to language curricula, student travel has much to offer science courses as well. Here, several options are described for secondary and college-level biology courses to participate in field-based study. The experience of one high school with one Amazonian field station is considered in detail, and several alternative opportunities for science-based student travel are provided as well. Traveling to the Amazon as an extension of classroom-based hypothesis generation and experimental design contextualized content for one high school biology course in a way that is powerful and repeatable.

FYI: Why Do I Have to Be Here? The Advanced Placement Student in First-Year Composition: Problems and Issues in Cognitive Development

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 324-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Henderson
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
High School ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Advanced Placement ◽  
School Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
College Level ◽  
First Year Composition

Perry (1970) and Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule's (1986) theories of cognitive development in college students are discussed. Connections are also made between the theories and the difficulties many students who have taken AP English in high school experience when they take first-year composition. Many of these students are resistant to learning more about writing although their work indicates that they need improvement in order to write effectively at the college level. The author posits that Perry's (1970) concepts of adherence and opposition to authority are especially useful in understanding these students. The author makes recommendations for helping these students develop in their thinking and writing.

A survey of students' notions of body function as teleologic or mechanistic.

1990 ◽  
Vol 258 (6) ◽  
pp. S8 ◽  
Author(s):  
D R Richardson
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
The Other ◽  
High School Biology ◽  
College Level ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Body Function ◽  
A Value ◽  
Term Basis

The objectives of this study were to determine 1) the relative degrees to which students' notions of physiological functions are teleologic or mechanistic in nature, 2) whether these notions differ between students in elementary and advanced-level physiology courses, and 3) whether the degree of teleologic vs. mechanistic thinking can be modified by direct discussion of this topic. A questionnaire that determined whether students thought about body functions in a teleologic (why) or mechanistic (how) manner was administered to the following categories of students: 1) a class of high school biology students, 2) classes of students taking elementary college-level physiology courses, and 3) college students in advanced physiology courses. Overall, there was an average 61% teleologic response among the various classes, and differences between the classes were not statistically significant (P greater than 0.05). To address objective 3, one of the classes was presented the questionnaire after being given a lecture on teleology vs. mechanistic approaches to body function. The average teleological response of this class was only 12%, a value significantly lower in comparison, by a one-way analysis of variance, to any of the other groups (P less than 0.0001). These results indicate that the students have a strong tendency to think of body functions in teleological terms and that this tendency can be modified on a short-term basis by a direct discussion (by an instructor) of teleologic vs. mechanistic thinking.

Interrelationships among students' study activities, self-concept of academic ability, and achievement as a function of characteristics of high-school biology courses

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 499-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Thomas ◽  
Linda Bol ◽  
Robert W. Warkentin ◽  
Mark Wilson ◽  
Amy Strage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Academic Ability ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
High School Biology ◽  
Biology Courses
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