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Bridging the Gaps: Evolution and Pre-service Science Teachers

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Evolution Education in the American South

Abstract

Evolution education faces as great a challenge in the modern age as it did when Darwin first put forth his theory of natural selection more than 150 years ago. Even today, when scientists are in broad agreement with evolution as the unifying theory not only in biology but also across scientific disciplines, the public view is that evolution is controversial and divisive. The research surrounding evolution teaching and learning shows us that teachers play a key role in division, specifically when their acceptance or rejection impacts how they teach evolution, if at all. For this reason, pre-service teachers, in the position between student and teacher, give us a focus for our attention and energies for conceptual change. This chapter details where we have been and what is yet needed to impact evolution education via teacher preparation, support, and outreach.

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Notes

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    Goldston and Kyzer (2009).

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    Goldston and Kyzer (2009).

  15. 15.

    Glaze, Goldston, and Dantzler, “Evolution in the Southeastern USA: Factors Influencing Acceptance and Rejection in Pre-Service Science Teachers.” (2014).

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    Glaze et al. (2014).

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    Glaze et al. (2014).

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    Goldston and Kyzer (2009).

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  37. 37.

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  46. 46.

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Glaze, A.L. (2017). Bridging the Gaps: Evolution and Pre-service Science Teachers. In: Lynn, C., Glaze, A., Evans, W., Reed, L. (eds) Evolution Education in the American South. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95139-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95139-0_5

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