Recognizing Student Misconceptions about Science and Evolution

Abstract

It is well documented that student misconceptions can create barriers to learning, especially in introductory biological science courses. In this paper, we examine some of the misconceptions that students enrolled in Introduction to Biological Anthropology at the University of Missouri-Columbia have about the nature of science and evolutionary processes, and compare them to published data. We then combine these results with a

review of the educational literature to illustrate why it is important that instructors identify and fully comprehend the misconceptions of their own students as a first step in assisting their students achieve conceptual change.