Albanian first-year university students’ knowledge and acceptance of evolution
Fundime Miri 1 , Ani Bajrami 2 * , Evangelia Mavrikaki 3
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1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, Tirana, ALBANIA2 Museum of Natural Sciences “Sabiha Kasimati”, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, Tirana, ALBANIA3 Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education, School of Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, GREECE* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Evolutionary theory provides the foundation for modern biology with evolution as a core concept and unifying principle. This research aimed to examine evolutionary knowledge and acceptance among first-year university students. The participants considered for analysis consisted of 87 students enrolled in the first-year bachelor’s in biology and biotechnology at the University of Tirana, Albania. The respondents’ average age was 18.95 ± 0.78 years, with a pronounced dominance of females (90.2%). The study used the standardized research instrument “evolution education questionnaire on acceptance and knowledge” to measure knowledge and acceptance about evolution in an international context. We employed descriptive statistics to analyze the collected data. The findings of research revealed that over half of the respondents, 61%, fall into the ‘very low knowledge’ category on evolution and none fall in the ‘high knowledge’ category. Only 60.9% accept evolution. The need for a revision of the evolutionary concepts and topics in the curricula, from primary school, is recommended coupled with the incorporation of philosophical dialogue into teaching practice.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 20, Issue 10, October 2024, Article No: em2512

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/15178

Publication date: 01 Oct 2024

Online publication date: 19 Sep 2024

Article Views: 239

Article Downloads: 129

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