Exploring the Factors Related to Acceptance of Evolution among Turkish Preservice Biology Teachers and the Relationship between Acceptance and Teaching Preference

Abstract

We explored the factors related to acceptance of evolution among preservice Turkish biology teachers using multiple regression analysis and the relationship between acceptance of evolution and the preference for teaching evolution using nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test. We found that factors such as understanding of evolution, thinking dispositions, and parents’ educational level were positively correlated with acceptance of evolution and the religiosity was negatively correlated with acceptance of evolution. Religiosity was the single most important factor that explained the variance in acceptance of evolution. Preservice teachers who preferred to teach evolution had significantly higher acceptance scores than preservice teachers who preferred to teach creationism.