Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Pages: 2601-2629

Journal: International Journal of Science Education

Volume number: 42

Issue number: 15

ISSN: 0950-0693

eISSN: 1464-5289

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1822561

Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group

Abstract: 

In evolution education, misconceptions about evolutionary concepts impact students' learning. Much research exists on assessing knowledge about evolution using different instruments. The current article introduces the KAEVO 2.0 instrument, which includes various evolutionary aspects representing microevolution and macroevolution. The introduced instrument aims to measure knowledge about evolution comprehensively, suitable for both high school students and undergraduates.

KAEVO 2.0 is based on KAEVO 1.0 (Beniermann, 2019) and was extended on the basis of a literature and a curricula analysis. These analyses revealed evolutionary concepts that reflect the construct 'knowledge about evolution' in high school biology. KAEVO 2.0 was reviewed by evolutionary biology and biology education experts and subsequently modified. Besides these aspects of content validity based on the content analyses, evidence for validity and reliability is provided based on a field-test with 136 biology, 124 non-biology undergraduates, and 146 high school students. We present confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), reliability analyses, correlation analyses and group comparisons for these subgroups. Results indicate that KAEVO 2.0 can be valuable in different application scenarios and is suitable for different age groups. We discuss further use of this instrument and recommend applications of various published instruments to assess different aspects of knowledge about evolution.

Harvard Citation style: Kuschmierz, P., Beniermann, A. and Graf, D. (2020) Development and evaluation of the knowledge about evolution 2.0 instrument (KAEVO 2.0), International Journal of Science Education, 42(15), pp. 2601-2629. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1822561

APA Citation style: Kuschmierz, P., Beniermann, A., & Graf, D. (2020). Development and evaluation of the knowledge about evolution 2.0 instrument (KAEVO 2.0). International Journal of Science Education. 42(15), 2601-2629. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1822561