Popular media and the bombardment of evolution misconceptions.

Background: Many students enter science classrooms with misconceptions about scientific principles. One of the most perceived controversial scientific principle for students is evolution. Students struggle to learn and accept evolution due to the many misconceptions students have interacted with before they enter a biology class. Evolution misconceptions come from many sources, such as religious beliefs, textbooks, and even unprepared educators. However, with students spending on average over seven hours a day viewing popular media, it is crucial to investigate further the accuracy of the portrayals of evolution in popular media. Results: We gathered data on the sources students saw evolution portrayed in popular media and determined what misconceptions were present in these popular media references. We found that 96% of the popular media references mentioned by students in our study inaccurately depicted evolution. The two most common misconceptions we observed in popular media were that evolution was depicted as a linear process and that individual organisms evolve instead of populations. Conclusion: Popular media does a poor job depicting evolution, which may be why many students are hesitant to learn evolution and overcome misconceptions. We suggest that these incorrect portrayals of evolution may provide an engaging way to teach correct evolutionary principles in the classroom.

Role models, compatibility, and knowledge lead to increased evolution acceptance.

BACKGROUND: Evolution acceptance is still low in the United States, especially among religious students. Due to low acceptance, researchers have used a wide variety of methods to increase evolution acceptance. Six culturally competent methods for teaching evolution to religious students have been identified, this manuscript looks specifically at the method of reconciliation between religion and evolution. The reconciliation module has been shown to effectively increase evolution acceptance while allowing students to maintain their religious views. However, we lack an understanding of why this method is effective. We measure evolution acceptance and religiosity at eight religiously affiliated institutions in the United States to again measure the effects of a reconciliation model in biology classrooms. This manuscript also attempts to address classroom influences that allowed students to reconcile evolution with their religious beliefs. RESULTS: Of the eight schools that participated, there were no statistically significant decreases in the religiosity of the students over the semester. Five of the eight institutions had statistically significant increases in their evolution acceptance scores over the semester. We identified three major influences students mentioned as reasons for change towards evolution acceptance: the presence of a role model, discussions on religion and science compatibility, and learning about evolution. CONCLUSIONS: We identified influential practices instructors could integrate into their classrooms to help students better incorporate evolution into their personal views. Having a role model and talking about compatibility between religion and evolution are influential in changing students' views about evolution. Learning the mechanisms of the theory of evolution is also important in changing students' views about evolution and might be more impactful when used in conjunction with a role model or a compatibility discussion. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12052-021-00155-x.

Barriers to teaching evolution in higher education.

BACKGROUND: Although progress has been made in evolution education, many educators face significant barriers in their efforts to teach evolution specifically, and science in general. The purpose of this study was to identify faculty-perceived barriers to teaching evolution, specifically in religiously affiliated institutions or institutions with a highly religious student body, as well as resources faculty feel would help promote discourse around faith, evolution and science. To do this, we held a workshop with teams consisting of a science professor, a theologian and a pastor (of the predominant on-campus faith tradition) from 17 different institutions of higher education with highly religious student bodies for the purpose of helping them to create a curriculum to address perceived conflicts between science and faith. During the workshop, participants created posters identifying barriers they face and resources they perceive as helpful. These posters were analyzed for prevalent themes and framed within an ecological model of behavior. RESULTS: These teams identified prevalent barriers at each level of the ecological model. Intrapersonal factors included a fear of rocking the boat and a fear of student conflict. Interpersonal factors included perceived student lack of knowledge, student ideology, and student apathy. Institutional factors included work politics, a lack of relevant discourse surrounding the conflict, and mixed messaging to students. Community factors included social norms associated with various student demographics. And public policy factors included local and state government attempts to limit the teaching of evolution. Additionally, participants identified resources that they felt would facilitate overcoming conflict including colleagues as change agents, various assets, and tools to negate conflict. CONCLUSIONS: We determined that many of the concerns are addressable, and many resources are attainable. We urge the community to work toward these solutions. Additionally, we compare our findings to what the literature has shown and discuss the implications of faculty perceptions as compared to the published literature. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12052-021-00151-1.

Predictors of compliance with COVID-19 related non-pharmaceutical interventions among university students in the United States.

The world is currently dealing with a devastating pandemic. Although growing COVID-19 case numbers, deaths, and hospitalizations are concerning, this spread is particularly alarming in the United States where polarizing opinions, changing policies, and misinformation abound. In particular, American college campuses have been a venue of rampant transmission, with concerning spillover into surrounding, more vulnerable, communities. We surveyed over 600 college students from across the United States and modeled predictors of compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions. We identified concern with severity, constitutionalism, news exposure, and religiosity as significant positive correlates with compliance, and general trust in science as a significant negative correlate. To determine how applicable nationwide modeling might be to individual local campuses we also administered this same survey to nearly 600 students at two large universities in Utah County. In this population, concern with severity was the only significant positive correlate with compliance; Additionally, feelings of inconvenience were negatively correlated. The effects of feelings of inconvenience, and news exposure were significantly different between populations. These results suggest that we should focus our efforts on increasing knowledge about the pandemic's effects on our society and informing about constitutionality amongst college students. However, we also show that nationwide surveys and modeling are informative, but if campuses are to efficiently curb the spread of COVID-19 this coming semester, they would be best served to utilize data collected from their student populations as these might significantly differ from general consensus data.

Influences on Attitudes Regarding Potential COVID-19 Vaccination in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, with the United States being highly affected. A vaccine provides the best hope for a permanent solution to controlling the pandemic. However, to be effective, a vaccine must be accepted and used by a large majority of the population. The aim of this study was to understand the attitudes towards and obstacles facing vaccination with a potential COVID-19 vaccine. To measure these attitudes a survey was administered to 316 respondents across the United States by a survey corporation. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships of several factors with attitudes toward potential COVID-19 vaccination. Prior vaccine usage and attitudes predicted attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination. Assessment of the severity of COVID-19 for the United States was also predictive. Approximately 68% of all respondents were supportive of being vaccinated for COVID-19, but side effects, efficacy and length of testing remained concerns. Longer testing, increased efficacy and development in the United States were significantly associated with increased vaccine acceptance. Messages promoting COVID-19 vaccination should seek to alleviate the concerns of those who are already vaccine-hesitant. Messaging directed at the benefits of vaccination for the United States as a country would address the second predictive factor. Enough time should be taken to allay concerns about both short- and long-term side effects before a vaccine is released.

Reconciling evolution: evidence from a biology and theology course.

BACKGROUND: Many individuals reject evolutionary theory due to a perceived conflict with their religious beliefs. To bridge this gap, educators have attempted different approaches including approaching evolution rejection as a consequence of deficit thinking and teaching students the nature of science (including the scientific process and peer review process as well as questions that science can and cannot answer).Teaching the nature of science has shown promising gains in the acceptance of evolution, although acceptance rates remain low. We propose a further approach: the use of a reconciliatory model designed to help students accept evolution within the framework of their religious beliefs. We tested this approach in both biology and theology classrooms at a Nazarene-affiliated university. Both professors approached the subject in a reconciliatory fashion. RESULTS: This study found that by utilizing a reconciliatory approach, the students in both classrooms saw significant gains in evolution acceptance, with gains being greatest in the biology classroom. In addition, we saw no decrease in student religiosity. CONCLUSIONS: Implications of this are discussed. The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of a reconciliatory model, which opens several avenues for further research.

Using a Reconciliation Module Leads to Large Gains in Evolution Acceptance.

Too many students reject the theory of evolution because they view it as incompatible with their religious beliefs. Some have argued that abandoning religious belief is the only way to help religious individuals accept evolution. Conversely, our data support that highlighting faith/evolution compatibility is an effective means to increase student acceptance. We surveyed students enrolled in entry-level biology courses at four religiously affiliated institutions. At each university, teachers gave students a presentation that demonstrated potential compatibility between evolution and faith within the teachings of each university's respective religious affiliation. Students were asked to evaluate their own beliefs about evolution both before and after this instruction. After instruction at each university, students showed significant gains in evolution acceptance without abandoning their religious beliefs. These results demonstrate that giving religious students the opportunity to reconcile their religious beliefs with the theory of evolution under the influence of intentional instruction on the compatibility of belief and evolution can lead to increased evolution acceptance among religious students.