Changing Children's Minds About Evolution: A Research Study

Can a single visit to an exhibition on evolution change children's minds? Yes it can! A narrative-based traveling exhibition on evolution was designed as an informal learning experience, one that targeted children's intuitive understanding of five basic evolutionary concepts: variation, inheritance, selection, time, and adaptation (VISTA). Elementary school-age children were randomly assigned to an hour-long visit to an evolution exhibition or to a different exhibition that was about the molecules of living organisms. Children's understanding of the VISTA concepts was assessed before and after the exhibition visits. The findings suggest that the VISTA concepts comprise a learning progression; children acquire these concepts sequentially, with more sophisticated concepts building upon more rudimentary ones. Children's grasp of the VISTA concepts was related both to the age of the child and to their exposure to the evolution exhibition. Overall, children were more resistant to the concept of variation within species -- which is key to understanding natural selection -- than that they were to the concept of common descent. If children had already been exposed to creationist ideas, however, common descent was often rejected. These results are consistent with other evidence suggesting that the learning progression for these two key evolutionary concepts -- natural selection and common descent -- differ from one another. Further, while the latter is more likely to be influenced by religious belief, both are influenced by basic cognitive structures present in early childhood, which may act as barriers to learning. While a single visit to an evolution exhibition can be both engaging and promote learning, the learning is still incremental, a series of stepping stones. The results will be used to chart a developmental trajectory concerning children's grasp of evolutionary concepts and suggest optimal intervention strategies in formal and informal settings.