Does integrating natural selection throughout upper secondary biology education result in a better understanding? A cross-national comparison between Flanders, Belgium and the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

Secondary school teaching of evolution through natural selection is very important because for most people, it is the only formal introduction to the scientific understanding of this theory. However, there are major concerns over its unsatisfactory teaching. In several European countries, including the Flanders region in Belgium, natural selection is treated as a side-topic that is referred to only after all other biological content has been covered. It has been suggested that improved understanding can be achieved by teaching it in a more integrated manner throughout the biology curriculum, as is largely the case in the Netherlands. We tested this hypothesis by a standardised comparison of the understanding of natural selection between university freshmen who had completed high level biology secondary education in Flanders or the Netherlands. We used the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS), designed to measure the understanding of 10 underlying key concepts (KC), including four core concepts (CC), and the magnitude of alternative conceptions. Regression analysis was used to control for potentially confounding student parameters. Dutch graduates indeed obtained a significantly higher CINS-score than Flemish graduates. They also scored significantly higher on eight key concepts. The 10 KC were employed to varying degrees, with the relative rank being highly comparable between both student populations, and the CC origin of variation and variation inheritable, both linked to genetics, being more challenging than the CC existence of variation and differential survival. The relative frequency of alternative conceptions elicited by the CINS was almost identical in both student populations.

KEYWORDS:

• Conceptual understanding
• evolution
• natural selection
• alternative conceptions
• secondary education
• Flanders
• The Netherlands
• CINS

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the participating students and to the pre-service biology teachers who assisted in administering the CINS. We also thank Jonas Verspeek for his help in analysing data and Josie Meaney-Ward for language review.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported financially by the Antwerp School of Education, University of Antwerp.