The present study aims to investigate questions related, on one hand, to the degree of familiarity that SecondaryScience Education teachers show with the Nature of Science and, on the other hand, to their understanding ofthe Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection. To what extent, e.g. better Epistemological Adequacy(knowledge of the Nature of Science) can influence the understanding and acceptance of the Evolution Theorythrough Natural Selection. Employing a closed-ended electronic questionnaire, the epistemologicalperceptions, understanding, and knowledge of the Evolution Theory via natural selection were assessed amonga cohort of 200 secondary education educators who teach or have taught biology-related subjects. The analysisreveals a positive correlation between epistemological adequacy and the acceptance and understanding ofevolutionary theory via natural selection. (12) (PDF) Μελετώντας τη Σχέση Αποδοχής και Κατανόησης της Θεωρίας της Εξέλιξης μέσω Φυσικής Επιλογής σε σχέση με τη Γνώση της Φύσης της Επιστήμης: Η Περίπτωση των Ελλήνων εκπαιδευτικών. Περίληψη. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381341712_Meletontas_te_Schese_Apodoches_kai_Katanoeses_tes_Theorias_tes_Exelixes_meso_Physikes_Epiloges_se_schese_me_te_Gnose_tes_Physes_tes_Epistemes_E_Periptose_ton_Ellenon_ekpaideutikon_Perilepse?channel=doi&linkId=6669d54185a4ee7261bf2034&showFulltext=true#fullTextFileContent [accessed Jun 12 2024].

The work is part of a larger project of teaching interdisciplinary teaching of physics concepts in biology within the science education class. It concerns the application of a thought experiment (ThE) about the movement of water in tracheophytes under different gravity conditions, i.e., the behavior of plants on another planet, forexample the Moon or Mars. The ThE was designed and implemented in a science class of 25 students who were instructed to perform it in a simulation environment using a software file that we created with the help of Interactive Physics software. The evaluation of the ThE carried out with a written questionnaire showed that theuse of such educational procedures can significantly help students to better understand the concepts related to capillary phenomena, the way water is transported to plants from roots to leaves and, generally, to contribute tothe interdisciplinary teaching of physics concepts in modules related to the teaching of biological phenomena and functions.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether an epistemological adequacy (knowledge of the Nature of Science, NOS) contributes to a better understanding and the acceptance of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection (ThENS). It was performed in two parts with the help of two questionnaires: 1. with students of Education, with a minimum familiarity to ThENS and NOS, before and after the application of a general biology course, and 2. with 200 Science Education teachers of various specialties who teach or have taught biology-related subjects. The education students showed some moderate levels of profi ciency regarding NOS that was improved statistically signifi cantly, even after a limited teaching intervention. An interesting founding was that, while their understanding of the ThENS was not very much improved by the course, it was found a positive correlation between their NOS familiarity and acceptance of evolution. As for the Science teachers, besides the above queries, some other variables were additionally investigated: E.g. to what extent, a better Epistemological Adequacy (knowledge of the Nature of Science) can infl uence their understanding and acceptance of the ThENS, or whether this affi liation could have been affected by their college or university instruction. The results showed a positive correlation between their epistemological adequacy and the acceptance and understanding of ThENS.