Our present contribution is a resume of a series of our studies by which we make an effort to explore the factors that are related to the acceptance of evolutionary theory among Greek and other variouscountries perspective and active educators using the conceptual ecology for biological evolution as a theoretical lens. Our central question refers to the role of the type of religiosity of a certain population in making their willingness for acceptance or rejection of evolution in the school environment. The Theory of Evolution (ET) is considered as concept - threshold that needs to be passed before someone can develop his/her understanding (Kinchin 2010) of a broader perspective of natural phenomena and of the nature of science. Most educational research has shown that the result of the teaching of ET is not positive in different parts of the world. Moreover research shows that the acceptance of the ET is restricted and the knowledge is limited and controversial among school science students and teachers. Large percentages of science teachers—close to a majority in many samples—reject ET and support the teaching of antievolutionary ideas in schools (Nehm & Schonfeld, 2007). Thus evolution remains a problematic subject for many science teachers. We make the hypothesis that the type of qualitative characteristics of the religion a nation or population group holds, is an essential factor in determining the level of acceptance of evolution, and their readiness to make changes in their believes, as well. More specifically, we advocate that the student and teacher populations that come from countries with a Greek-Orthodox background are m​

In this study, we explored the factors related to acceptance of evolutionary theory among students/preservice preschool education teachers using conceptual ecology for biological evolution as a theoretical frame. We aimed to examine the acceptance and understanding of evolutionary theory and also the relationship of acceptance and understanding of the nature of science, thinking dispositions and religiosity as independent variables. We also studied the influence of teaching on the conceptual ecology of evolution acceptance. A class of 320 future teachers was surveyed using two questionnaires. According to our findings, students' understanding of evolutionary theory is positively correlated with a moderate acceptance of evolutionary theory. We found a weak positive correlation between the understanding of the nature of science and acceptance of evolution theory, and a positive correlation between open-minded thinking dispositions and evolution theory acceptance. The strength and the patterns of these correlations are miscellaneous and are examined carefully in this paper. We also found that systematic teaching may have a significant influence on evolution theory acceptance. Our findings stress the differences that exist between societies and how socio-cultural factors such as type of religion influence acceptance of evolution and have a strong influence on evolution education.

Our present contribution is a resume of a series of our studies by which we make an effort to explore the factors that are related to the acceptance of evolutionary theory among Greek and other variouscountries perspective and active educators using the conceptual ecology for biological evolution as a theoretical lens. Our central question refers to the role of the type of religiosity of a certain population in making their willingness for acceptance or rejection of evolution in the school environment. The Theory of Evolution (ET) is considered as concept - threshold that needs to be passed before someone can develop his/her understanding (Kinchin 2010) of a broader perspective of natural phenomena and of the nature of science. Most educational research has shown that the result of the teaching of ET is not positive in different parts of the world. Moreover research shows that the acceptance of the ET is restricted and the knowledge is limited and controversial among school science students and teachers. Large percentages of science teachers—close to a majority in many samples—reject ET and support the teaching of antievolutionary ideas in schools (Nehm & Schonfeld, 2007). Thus evolution remains a problematic subject for many science teachers. We make the hypothesis that the type of qualitative characteristics of the religion a nation or population group holds, is an essential factor in determining the level of acceptance of evolution, and their readiness to make changes in their believes, as well. More specifically, we advocate that the student and teacher populations that come from countries with a Greek-Orthodox background are m​