Human beings are predisposed to think of evolution as teleological—i.e., having a purpose or directive principle—and the ways scientists talk about natural selection can feed this predisposition. This work examines the suggestion that students’ teleological thinking operates as an obstacle when the natural selection evolution model is taught. What we mean by obstacle is an established way of thinking that resists change due to its explanatory power. In light of this approach, the challenges of teaching evolution in biology education have been revised, and improved methodological strategies aimed at a better comprehension of the Darwinian evolution model are suggested.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs12052-010-0272-7.pdf

The Role of Teleological Thinking in Learning the Darwinian Model of Evolution

A cross‐sectional study of Portuguese primary school pupils' conceptions on digestion and the digestive tract was carried out before and after teaching this topic. Pupils of the prior four school years (5/6 to 9/10 year old) drew what happens to a cookie inside their body. In some cases they also wrote a short text or were interviewed. To identify their level of graphic development, they produced a free‐hand drawing. The main conceptual changes in explaining digestion were strongly linked to teaching. Children's previous conceptions were not epistemological obstacles to learning about digestion. The main obstacles were of didactical origin, as images of primary school books do not represent (i) the path of food from the intestine into the blood, (associated to the epistemological obstacle of the permeability of the gut wall); (ii) a clear continuous tract from stomach to anus, which causes a specific confusion at the intestine level.

Portuguese primary school children's conceptions about digestion: identification of learning obstacles

Dans un premier temps, il categorise ces recherches (a partir principalement des theses et memoires de DEA realises a Lyon 1 et en partie a Grenoble 1). R en presente les methodes et les nouveaux resultats acquis ces dix dernieres annees, en les regroupant en trois types : l'identification de conceptions et obstacles ; l'analyse de situations didactiques et des processus d'apprentissage ; l'analyse de la transposition didactique (externe et interne).

/pdf/la-biologie-et-sa-didactique-dix-ans-de-recherche-3jl1qo27e3.pdf

La biologie et sa didactique, dix ans de recherche

Our previous studies have shown that Portuguese primary school pupils and teachers have three main difficulties in the representation of the digestion process: the sequence of the digestive tract, blood absorption, and the relationship of the digestive function with other human functions. In this study we analysed the topic of digestion in 63 Portuguese textbooks (1920–2005). In general, the textual explanation of the digestive process (including reference to blood absorption) is clear, but “confusion” in images is persistent throughout the period studied. To demonstrate the influence of the period of the Portuguese dictatorship (1926–1974), a brief comparison with French textbooks (which developed during the same period with the aim of presenting clearer representations of the digestive tract) was carried out. Results suggest that inadequate images in textbooks may be the main didactic obstacle to accurate learning of the digestive function.

Historical analysis of portuguese primary school textbooks (1920-2005) on the topic of digestion

Nous analysons la demarche d'investigation preconisee dans les textes officiels de l'ecole primaire et du college en explorant differentes formes d'investigation: l'Inquiry-based Science Education, le modele pedagogique « Investigation-structuration », et l'enquete (Inquiry) de Dewey. Nous avancons ensuite quelques elements pour caracteriser l'investigation du vivant. Nous analysons enfin deux exemples - la classification phylogenetique et la ventilation - pour donner un contenu precis, aux interrogations epistemologiques discutees.

L'investigation: fondements et démarches, intérêts et limites

Mots-clés de la didactique des sciences

Pratiques de formation en didactique des sciences

Les eleves qui arrivent en sixieme ont appris a lire. Cependant, les performances mediocres souvent observees dans les activites scientifiques, sur des documents ecrits, conduisent a s'interroger sur leurs acquisitions veritables, et a mieux identifier les points sur lesquels l'effort d'apprentissage doit etre poursuivi. En effet, mettre en cause de facon globale le "niveau" des eleves, c'est sousestimer la multiplicite des savoirs qu'exige la construction du sens de textes complexes, comme le sont les textes des manuels de biologie au College. Au-dela de la mise en place des mecanismes de base a l'ecole elementaire, les obstacles a l'appropriation des ecrits restent varies et nombreux. Il s'agit d'interactions entre codes multiples, d'indices graphiques non explicites, de structures linguistiques marquant les types d'ecrits, de densite informationnelle des messages... Cerner ces obstacles, c'est recenser les competences qui restent a construire par des activites scientifiques, competences qui conduiront les eleves a des strategies de lecture plus efficaces et plus elaborees.

Yvette Ginsburger-Vogel

Papers

Mots-clés de la didactique des sciences

Pratiques de formation en didactique des sciences

Sur la lecture des manuels de biologie

Chapitre 2. Concept, conceptualisation

Chapitre 3. Conflit cognitif, conflit socio-cognitif