Diversity of Students' Beliefs about Biological Evolution

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the beliefs about biological evolution held by college freshman students in one Catholic university in the Philippines. After 4 weeks of constructivist-inspired instruction, interviews and journal entries revealed that the students have diverse beliefs about the theory of evolution. They posited rejection, acceptance or doubt about the evolutionary theory based on their scientific and theological beliefs, perceptions about the evidence of evolution and misconceptions about evolutionary theory, in particular, human evolution. Based on the results, it is discerned that there indeed is a clear interaction between science and religion in the teaching and learning of science. The authors also conclude that students' current worldviews, in the form of attitudes and beliefs, affect how they understand concepts.