Modeling the Interrelationships among Pre-service Science Teachers’ Understanding and Acceptance of Evolution, Their Views on Nature of Science and Self-Efficacy Beliefs regarding Teaching Evolution
Source: Journal of Science Teacher Education, Volume 23, Issue 8, p. 937-957, December 2012.
The authors proposed a path model of relationships among understanding and acceptance of evolution, views on nature of science (NOS), and self-efficacy beliefs regarding teaching evolution.
The participants were 415 pre-service science teachers, who completed a series of self-report instruments for the specified purpose.
The findings suggest that sophisticated views on NOS were associated with higher levels of both understanding and acceptance of evolution.
In addition, the findings reveal that the higher level of understanding of evolution was related to the higher level of acceptance of evolution.
Besides, higher levels of both understanding and acceptance of the theory and naïve views on NOS were found to be associated with stronger self-efficacy beliefs for teaching evolution effectively.