Amanda L. (Glaze) Townley, Ph.D.

Traditionally, university instruction is based upon the assumption that students come to higher education prepared with fundamental knowledge and understandings of content, especially those, like evolution, that are unifying theories within and across fields. However, we are finding more and more that students in postsecondary education face many of the same struggles with understanding and acceptance of evolution as found in the general public. This suggests that students entering colleges and universities may not have the level of preparation in these, and other, controversial topics. In order to understand the teaching and learning of evolution at the primary and secondary levels, we must also understand how those who teach at those levels are prepared to do so and how their own misconceptions, understandings, and world views impact their teaching. Pre-service teachers occupy a transitional position between that the role of a student and that of teacher, lending a unique viewpoint for investigating the teaching and learning of evolution in tandem.

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For more on this and other chapters in the book, see the EvoS post by Editor Chris Lynn!