The effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14-15-year-olds in Slovenia
In Slovenia, human evolution is first taught in biology classes to 14–15-year-old students. For many of them, this will be the only contact with this topic at school. The objective was to determine how much knowledge students acquired about human evolution. Data were collected with a questionnaire...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Acta Biologica Slovenica |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uni-lj.si/abs/article/view/18729 |
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| author | Jelka Strgar |
| author_facet | Jelka Strgar |
| author_sort | Jelka Strgar |
| collection | DOAJ |
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In Slovenia, human evolution is first taught in biology classes to 14–15-year-old students. For many of them, this will be the only contact with this topic at school. The objective was to determine how much knowledge students acquired about human evolution. Data were collected with a questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale. The participants were 13–14-year-olds who had not yet learned about human evolution (the control group) and 15–16-year-olds who had learned about human evolution one year earlier in biology classes (the experimental group). The results show that students significantly improved their knowledge of human evolution with small to medium effect sizes. Students knew very well that modern humans are the only species of humans today and that they did not live at the same time as dinosaurs. The achievements were low on the following topics: modern humans lived at the same time as Neanderthals and mammoths, and modern humans did not evolve from Neanderthals. To the problematic topics, attention should be paid to teacher education and the primary school curriculum. There were few correlations between the knowledge of human evolution, acceptance of evolution, religiosity, and attitudes toward biology.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a5b359508f8641838560afaeec159117 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1854-3073 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Biologica Slovenica |
| spelling | doaj-art-a5b359508f8641838560afaeec1591172025-01-16T08:23:41ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Acta Biologica Slovenica1854-30732025-01-0168110.14720/abs.68.01.18729The effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14-15-year-olds in SloveniaJelka Strgar0University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty In Slovenia, human evolution is first taught in biology classes to 14–15-year-old students. For many of them, this will be the only contact with this topic at school. The objective was to determine how much knowledge students acquired about human evolution. Data were collected with a questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale. The participants were 13–14-year-olds who had not yet learned about human evolution (the control group) and 15–16-year-olds who had learned about human evolution one year earlier in biology classes (the experimental group). The results show that students significantly improved their knowledge of human evolution with small to medium effect sizes. Students knew very well that modern humans are the only species of humans today and that they did not live at the same time as dinosaurs. The achievements were low on the following topics: modern humans lived at the same time as Neanderthals and mammoths, and modern humans did not evolve from Neanderthals. To the problematic topics, attention should be paid to teacher education and the primary school curriculum. There were few correlations between the knowledge of human evolution, acceptance of evolution, religiosity, and attitudes toward biology. https://journals.uni-lj.si/abs/article/view/18729knowledge of human evolutionacceptance of evolutionreligiosityattitude towards biologyprimary school |
| spellingShingle | Jelka Strgar The effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14-15-year-olds in Slovenia Acta Biologica Slovenica knowledge of human evolution acceptance of evolution religiosity attitude towards biology primary school |
| title | The effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14-15-year-olds in Slovenia |
| title_full | The effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14-15-year-olds in Slovenia |
| title_fullStr | The effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14-15-year-olds in Slovenia |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14-15-year-olds in Slovenia |
| title_short | The effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14-15-year-olds in Slovenia |
| title_sort | effectiveness of teaching human evolution to 14 15 year olds in slovenia |
| topic | knowledge of human evolution acceptance of evolution religiosity attitude towards biology primary school |
| url | https://journals.uni-lj.si/abs/article/view/18729 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jelkastrgar theeffectivenessofteachinghumanevolutionto1415yearoldsinslovenia AT jelkastrgar effectivenessofteachinghumanevolutionto1415yearoldsinslovenia |