An important new book by the author of the bestselling text Defending Evolution: A Guide to the Creation/Evolution Controversy, this title examines the controversial issues surrounding this central concept of life science and explores students' common scientific misconceptions, describes approaches for teaching topics and principles of evolution, and offers strategies for handling the various problems some students have with the idea of evolution due to religious influences

This collection presents research-based interventions using existing knowledge to produce new pedagogies to teach evolution to learners more successfully, whether in schools or elsewhere. ‘Success’ here is measured as cognitive gains, as acceptance of evolution or an increased desire to continue to learn about it. Aside from introductory and concluding chapters by the editors, each chapter consists of a research-based intervention intended to enable evolution to be taught successfully; all these interventions have been researched and evaluated by the chapters’ authors and the findings are presented along with discussions of the implications. The result is an important compendium of studies from around the word conducted both inside and outside of school. The volume is unique and provides an essential reference point and platform for future work for the foreseeable future.

This volume reaches beyond the controversy surrounding the teaching and learning of evolution in the United States, specifically in regard to the culture, politics, and beliefs found in the Southeast. The editors argue that despite a deep history of conflict in the region surrounding evolution, there is a wealth of evolution research taking place—from biodiversity in species to cultural evolution and human development. In fact, scientists, educators, and researchers from around the United States have found their niche in the South, where biodiversity is high, culture runs deep, and the pace is just a little bit slower.

This book goes beyond the science versus religion dispute to ask why evolution is so often rejected as a legitimate scientific fact, focusing on a wide range of cognitive, socio-cultural, and motivational factors that make concepts such as evolution difficult to grasp.

This edited book provides a global view on evolution education. It describes the state of evolution education in different countries that are representative of geographical regions around the globe such as Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North Africa, South Africa, North America, South America,Middle East, Far East, South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.Studies in evolution education literature can be divided into three main categories: (a) understanding the interrelationships among cognitive, affective, epistemological, and religious factors that are related to peoples’ views about evolution, (b) designing, implementing, evaluating evolution education curriculum that reflects contemporary evolution understanding, and (c) reducing antievolutionary attitudes. This volume systematically summarizes the evolution education literature across these three categories for each country or geographical region. The individual chapters thus include common elements that facilitate a cross-cultural meta-analysis. Written for a primarily academic audience, this book provides a much-needed common background for future evolution education research across the globe.

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Higher Education demonstrates the impact higher education has had on global economies and universities across the world.

This volume serves to integrate the vast literature in the interdisciplinary field of Evolutionary Studies (EvoS), providing clear examples of how evolutionary concepts relate to all facets of life. It features chapters that outline a variety of applications to evolution education, including improved sustainable development, medical practices, and creative and critical thinking skills. Exploring controversies surrounding evolution education, this volume provides a roadmap to asking and answering Darwinian questions across all areas of intellectual inquiry.

The study of conceptual change traces its heritage to the notions of paradigm (networks of shared beliefs, concepts, practices) and paradigm shift made famous by Thomas Kuhn in his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn’s work was quickly linked to developmental psychology (how knowledge develops) and to science education (teaching big, new ideas). This book is the first comprehensive review of the conceptual change movement and of the impressive research it has spawned on how knowledge develops and can be taught in different content areas. Because of its interdisciplinary focus chapter authors were instructed to write in a manner comprehensible to researchers and students from different fields. The International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change consists of twenty-seven chapters that clarify the nature of conceptual change research, describes its most important findings and demonstrates their importance for education. It is organized into six sections that include detailed discussions of key theoretical and methodological issues, the roots of conceptual change research in the philosophy and history of science, mechanisms of conceptual change, and learner characteristics. It also contains chapters that describe conceptual change research in the content areas such as physics, astronomy, biology, medicine and health, and history. A particular focus is given to students’ difficulties in learning more advanced and counter-intuitive concepts.

There is a paradox when it comes to Darwinian ideas within the academy. On one hand, Darwin's theories have famously changed the foundational ideas related to the origins of life, shaping entire disciplines in the biological sciences. On the other hand, people in educated societies across the globe today are famously misinformed and uneducated about Darwinian principles and ideas. Applications of evolutionary theory outside the traditional areas of biology have been slow to progress, and scholars doing such work regularly run into all kinds of political backlash. However, a slow but steady push to advance the teaching of evolution across academic disciplines has been under way for more than a decade. This book serves to integrate the vast literature in the interdisciplinary field of Evolutionary Studies (EvoS), providing clear examples of how evolutionary concepts relate to all facets of life. Further, this book provides chapters dedicated to the processes associated with an EvoS education, including examples of how an interdisciplinary approach to evolutionary theory has been implemented successfully at various colleges, universities, and degree programs. This book also offers chapters outlining a variety of applications to an evolution education, including improved sustainable development, medical practices, and creative and critical thinking skills. Exploring controversies surrounding evolution education, this volume provides a roadmap to asking and answering Darwinian questions across all areas of intellectual inquiry.

Thoroughly updated to include the most recent and fascinating discoveries in oceanography, the Fifth Edition takes great strides to be the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and student-friendly resource available today. Its content continues to span the four major divisions of ocean science: geology, chemistry, physics and biology, while maintaining the conversational voice for which it is acclaimed. The Fifth Edition boasts many exciting updates, including a new chapter on global climate change that educates students on global warming in the 21st century and its likely impact on ocean systems. With new end-of-chapter questions, new color photographs and illustrations, and an expanded assortment of Selected Readings, Invitation to Oceanography is a must-have in any marine science classroom!