The Influence of Education Major: How Diverse Preservice Teachers View Pseudoscience Topics |
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Authors: | Susan Carol Losh and Brandon Nzekwe |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32303-4453, USA |
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Abstract: | Pseudoscience beliefs (e.g., astrology, ghosts or UFOs) are rife in American society. Most research examines creation/evolution
among liberal arts majors, general public adults, or, infrequently, middle or high school science teachers. Thus, research
truncates the range of ersatz science thinking and the samples it studies. We examined diverse beliefs, e.g., extraterrestrials, magic, Biblical creation, and evolution, among 540 female and 123 male future teachers, including 325 elementary education majors. We study
how these cognitions related to education major and, because popular media often present pseudoscience “information”, student
media use. Future elementary educators most often rejected evolution and endorsed “creationism” or Intelligent Design. Education
majors held similar beliefs about astrology, UFO landings, or magic. Compared with other education students, elementary education
majors watched less news or science television and read fewer popular science magazines. However, religious and media variables
explained more variation in creation/evolution beliefs than education major. We discuss implications of our findings for elementary
school science education and how teacher educators may be able to affect pseudoscience beliefs among their elementary education
students. |
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