Thinking about theories or thinking with theories?: a classroom study with natural selection

A classroom study was conducted among secondary school pupils in Vigo (Spain), with the purpose of testing strategies intended to enhance a conceptual shift from Lamarckian to Darwinian views. Instructional materials and strategies took pupils’ ideas into account, while the differences between experimental and control groups concerned the explicit comparison of the Darwinian model and their own Lamarckian ideas, on the hypothesis that both models are confused in pupils’ minds. While the pretest results of both groups were similar, significant differences appeared between them in post‐test and retest, with the experimental group showing better procedural knowledge. Educational implications are discussed.