Identification of Undergraduate Biology Students Level Acceptance and Perceptions of Evolution Theory: A Preliminary Study Sindanita Yulianty (a*), Topik Hidayat (b), Yanti Hamdiyati (b), Cita Tresnawati (c)
(a) Master in Biology Education Program, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI). Jl. Dr. Setiabudi 229, Bandung, 40154, Indonesia
*sindanita[at]upi.edu
(b) Department of Biology Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI). Jl. Dr. Setiabudi 229, Bandung, 40154, Indonesia
(c) Department of Biology Education, FKIP, Universitas Pasundan
Jl. Tamansari No. 6-8, Bandung 40116, Indonesia
Abstract
The contradiction between evolution and personal beliefs is a challenging issue in learning evolution in Indonesia. Few studies report that Indonesia had more misconceptions, lower knowledge about the evolution concept, and acceptance of evolution in Indonesia was lower than USA, Koreans, Greeks, and Romans. In education, teachers^ knowledge and acceptance of evolution theory contribute to how they teach evolution to their students in the future. This preliminary study aimed to describe the levels of students^ acceptance and perceptions of evolution before the learning process. This study involved 78 undergraduate students in the biology education program at Pasundan University. The level of acceptance of evolution theory was measured by using Measure of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) and students^ perception of evolution was obtained through a questionnaire. The results of MATE revealed that 2 students (3%) in high acceptance, 23 students (29%) in moderate acceptance, 43 students (55%) in low acceptance, and 10 students (13%) in the category very low acceptance. The questionnaire resulted 32 students (41%) believed in, 28 students (36%) doubts, and 18 students (23%) not believed in the theory of evolution. Some of the students^ perceptions are (1) evolution is a science that can be proved by the fact- (2) the theory of evolution is based solely on speculation- (3) evolution theory is contradictory with creationism and their beliefs- (4) people^s misconceptions about the concept of evolution lead to the rejection of the evolution theory. Nevertheless, 93% of students would teach the theory of evolution to their students. These findings provide the view that students are caught between accepting or rejecting the theory of evolution.
Keywords: acceptance of evolution- evolution- MATE- perception of evolution
