Abstract:
The theory of evolution is a core theory that many other fields in science rely on for
scientific insights and improved practices. However, evolution understanding has been
shown to be affected by many factors such as attitudes, beliefs and instruction, among
others. Negative influence of these factors on evolution understanding threatens
evolution education. To resolve this, it is first important to understand the status of
evolution worldwide. Consequently, this thesis presents a critical review of the
literature that explores the status of evolution education around the world which will
then provide a rationale for future investigations and studies. To identify relevant
studies, the review employs two techniques. The first technique is conducting a
thorough search of the literature using a web search engine, Google Scholar, and an
academic search engine, AUBLibraries. The other technique is the ancestry approach, in
which references from the studies identified using the first technique are traced. The
studies included in this review adhered to the following criteria: (1) published in
English, (2) conducted between 2000 and 2021, (3) conducted in countries all around
the world except the USA, and (4) peer-reviewed empirical studies. The identified
studies were then analyzed and categorized based on four key themes: (1) Attitudes
toward the Theory of Evolution, (2) Conceptions and misconceptions about the Theory
of Evolution, (3) Factors influencing the attitudes toward the Theory of Evolution, and
(4) Teaching of the Theory of Evolution. The thesis also proposes few
recommendations such as (1) investigating the relationship between factors influencing
attitudes and misconceptions and other mediating factors, (2) conducting more studies
that address essentialism and its correlation with evolution, (3) investigating the
relationship between evolution understanding and epistemological resources (4) relying
on classroom discourse analysis as a data collection and analysis tool while conducting
investigations, (5) addressing the possibility of including the topic of evolution in the
curriculum at early ages as well as high grade levels with states and governments, (6)
designing and implementing training programs for pre- and in-service teachers, and (7)
introducing the interventions that have been shown by research to be effective to
schools and practicing teachers.