Development and validation of a framework for the assessment of school curricula on the presence of evolutionary concepts (FACE)

Evolution: Education and Outreach

Bruno Sousa¹  Panagiotis K. Stasinakis²  Costanza Piccoli³  Angelica Crottini³  Dragana Cvetković⁴  Martha Georgiou⁵  Penelope Papadopoulou⁶  Konstantinos Korfiatis⁷  Milena Pejchinovska⁸  Evangelia Mavrikaki⁹  Alma Pobric^1,10  Teresa Nogueira^1,11  Bento Cavadas^1,12  Silvia Paolucci^1,13  Heloise D. Dufour^1,14  Alex Jeffries^1,15  Patrícia Pessoa^1,16  Xana Sá-Pinto^1,16  Giulia Realdon^1,17  Johan Barstad^1,18  Gregor Torkar^1,19  Tanja Gnidovec^1,19  Joana Rocha^2,20 

[1] Alpoente, Agrupamento de Escolas de Albufeira Poente;Ampelokipoi Laboratory Centre for Natural Sciences (EKFE);CIBIO/InBio InBIO, Universidade Do Porto, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade E Recursos Genéticos;Chair of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade;Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens;Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Western Macedonia;Department of Education, University of Cyprus;Faculty of Education, “St. Kliment Ohridski” University;Faculty of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens;Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo;INIAV, National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinary Research;IPsantarém, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém-School of Education;Laboratorio di Scienze Sperimentali;Le Cercle FSER;Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath;Research Centre on Didactics and Technology in the Education of Trainers, Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro;UNICAMearth Group, Geology Section, University of Camerino;University College of Green Development;University of Ljubljana Faculty of Education;University of Trás-Os-Montes E Alto Douro;

关键词: Curricula analysis;    Evolution education;    Content analysis;    Learning goals;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12052-021-00142-2

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Evolution is a key concept of biology, fundamental to understand the world and address important societal problems, but research studies show that it is still not widely understood and accepted. Several factors are known to influence evolution acceptance and understanding, but little information is available regarding the impacts of the curriculum on these aspects. Very few curricula have been examined to assess the coverage of biological evolution. The available studies do not allow comparative analyses, due to the different methodologies employed by the authors. However, such an analysis would be useful for research purposes and for the development of appropriate educational policies to address the problem of a lack of evolution acceptance in some countries. In this paper we describe the steps through which we developed a valid and reliable instrument for curricula analysis known as FACE: “Framework to Assess the Coverage of biological Evolution by school curricula.” This framework was developed based on the “Understanding Evolution Conceptual Framework” (UECF). After an initial pilot study, our framework was reformulated based on identified issues and experts’ opinions. To generate validity and reliability evidence in support of the framework, it was applied to four European countries’ curricula. For each country, a team of a minimum of two national and two foreign coders worked independently to assess the curriculum using this framework for content analysis. Reliability evidence was estimated using Krippendorf's alpha and resulted in appropriate values for coding the examined curricula. Some issues that coders faced during the analysis were discussed and, to ensure better reliability for future researchers, additional guidelines and one extra category were included in the framework. The final version of the framework includes six categories and 34 subcategories. FACE is a useful tool for the analysis and the comparison of curricula and school textbooks regarding the coverage of evolution, and such results can guide curricula development.

【 授权许可】

Unknown