A Questionnaire Survey on the Understanding of Evolution by Secondary School Students, and Lessons on Evolution and Anthropology

Abstract

A survey was conducted to examine how middle school students understand evolution in biology. As a result, it became clear that the students could not distinguish evolution from metamorphosis and that they take evolution as a progress. Middle school students misunderstand the phenomena of biological evolution, which seems to prevent them from correct biological understanding. For the betterment of their understanding, special lessons on biological evolution covering topics of physical anthropology were given to those students. The comparison between the pre-teaching and after-teaching respondents showed improvements in their understanding. This survey substantiated the merits of teaching physical anthropology in the secondary education.