Evolution has historically been a topic in biology that is fraught with controversy, and a conflict between religion and evolution is often assumed. If students perceive that evolution is in conflict with their religious beliefs, it can have negative ramifications for their learning of evolution and attitudes toward science. However, religion and evolution have been argued to be compatible. An instructor can incorporate a discussion of this compatibility into their teaching, but the impact of this on students’ perceptions of compatibility is still unknown. In this study, we describe a two-week module on evolution with embedded discussion about compatibility between religion and evolution. We surveyed introductory biology students before and after this evolution module about whether they thought evolution and religion could be compatible. We found that the evolution module reduced the number of students who perceived a conflict between evolution and religion by 50 percent. Unexpectedly, perceived conflict between religion and evolution was reduced for both religious and nonreligious students. These results indicate that how instructors present a module on evolution can have an impact on student perceptions of compatibility between religion and evolution.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
February 2017
Research Article|
February 01 2017
Impact of a Short Evolution Module on Students’ Perceived Conflict between Religion and Evolution
M. Elizabeth Barnes,
M. Elizabeth Barnes
1M. Elizabeth Barnes ([email protected]), Sara E. Brownell ([email protected]), and James Elser ([email protected]) are at the Center for Biology and Society, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Search for other works by this author on:
James Elser,
James Elser
1M. Elizabeth Barnes ([email protected]), Sara E. Brownell ([email protected]), and James Elser ([email protected]) are at the Center for Biology and Society, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Search for other works by this author on:
Sara E. Brownell
Sara E. Brownell
1M. Elizabeth Barnes ([email protected]), Sara E. Brownell ([email protected]), and James Elser ([email protected]) are at the Center for Biology and Society, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Search for other works by this author on:
The American Biology Teacher (2017) 79 (2): 104–111.
Citation
M. Elizabeth Barnes, James Elser, Sara E. Brownell; Impact of a Short Evolution Module on Students’ Perceived Conflict between Religion and Evolution. The American Biology Teacher 1 February 2017; 79 (2): 104–111. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2017.79.2.104
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.