Development and validation of a framework for the assessment of school curricula on the presence of evolutionary concepts (FACE)
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: Evolution is a key concept of biology, fundamental to understand the world and address important societal problems, but research studies show that it is still not widely understood and accepted. Several factors are known to influence evolution acceptance and understanding, but little information is available regarding the impacts of the curriculum on these aspects. Very few curricula have been examined to assess the coverage of biological evolution. The available studies do not allow comparative analyses, due to the different methodologies employed by the authors. However, such an analysis would be useful for research purposes and for the development of appropriate educational policies to address the problem of a lack of evolution acceptance in some countries. In this paper we describe the steps through which we developed a valid and reliable instrument for curricula analysis known as FACE: "Framework to Assess the Coverage of biological Evolution by school curricula." This framework was developed based on the "Understanding Evolution Conceptual Framework" (UECF). After an initial pilot study, our framework was reformulated based on identified issues and experts' opinions. To generate validity and reliability evidence in support of the framework, it was applied to four European countries' curricula. For each country, a team of a minimum of two national and two foreign coders worked independently to assess the curriculum using this framework for content analysis. Reliability evidence was estimated using Krippendorf's alpha and resulted in appropriate values for coding the examined curricula. Some issues that coders faced during the analysis were discussed and, to ensure better reliability for future researchers, additional guidelines and one extra category were included in the framework. The final version of the framework includes six categories and 34 subcategories. FACE is a useful tool for the analysis and the comparison of curricula and school textbooks regarding the coverage of evolution, and such results can guide curricula development.
Source: Evolution Education and Outreach
Authors: Xana Sá-Pinto, Giulia Realdon, Gregor Torkar, Bruno Sousa, Martha Georgiou, Alex Jeffries, Konstantinos Korfiatis, Silvia Paolucci, Patrícia Pessoa, Joana Rocha, Panagiotis K. Stasinakis, Bento Cavadas, Angelica Crottini, Tanja Gnidovec, Teresa Nogueira, Penelope Papadopoulou, Costanza Piccoli, Johan Barstad, Heloise D. Dufour, Milena Pejchinovska, Alma Pobric, Dragana Cvetković, Evangelia Mavrikaki
Institutions: University of Aveiro, Università di Camerino, University of Ljubljana, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University of Bath, University of Cyprus, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Universidade Politécnica de Santarém, Universidade Lusófona, Universidade do Porto, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, University of Lisbon, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, University of Western Macedonia, Høgskulen for Grøn Utvikling, Fondation Schlumberger pour l’Education et la Recherche, University "St. Kliment Ohridski" - Bitola, University of Sarajevo, University of Belgrade
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,990
Awards: G1024812812, G1397148809, G1516346500, G1690109813, G253812421, G306962499, G3419631342, G370711415, G4100379140, Centro de Investigação Didática e Tecnologia na Formação de Formadores, G4324946714, G4517594230, G5454278309, Molecular taxonomic species identification applied to the study of the herpetofauna of Madagascar, G7184583013, G8282450680, G919144852
OpenAlex ID: W3152321995