Can these predictors adequately explain PD needs related to basic pedagogy, contemporary evolution instruction, and standards-based evolution instruction?
What are the most important predictors for PD needs related to basic pedagogy, contemporary evolution instruction, and standards-based evolution instruction for instructors who report teaching evolution?
Explicit evolution instruction is usually taking place for the first time in secondary settings.
Indeed, it may require more comprehensive evolution instruction using extensive theoretical and experimental examples.
What explains the general lack of evolution instruction that occurs in high school science classrooms?
Figure 1 Measurement and structural models for PD needs related to evolution instruction.
A wide range of sensitivities and concerns can potentially create conflict in relation to evolution instruction.
Based on results from factor analysis, the outcome of PD could be broken up into three subscales: basic pedagogy (8 items, αc = 0.794), contemporary evolution instruction (4 items, αc = 0.633), and standards-based evolution instruction (2 items, αc = 0.799).
In addition to reliable subscales, we found that obstacles to teaching evolution, school and community support for evolution instruction, confidence in evolution instruction, and prior coursework in evolution provide a model for PD needs which balances fit and parsimony.
Preservice teachers who have been exposed to evolution instruction in secondary science classrooms are still graduating with misunderstandings.
That is, teacher's high level of acceptance of evolutionary theory gave rise to increase in spent time for evolution instruction.
