2008/06/05 by Glenn Branch, Louise S. Mead · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Evolution and Science Education #Animal and Plant Science Education #Philosophy and History of Science #Pejorative #Confusion #Epistemology #Scientific theory #Obstacle #Sociology #Philosophy #Psychology #Law #Linguistics #Political science #Psychoanalysis
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s12052-008-0056-5
openalex publication_date 2008/06/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
A central obstacle to accepting evolution, both among students and the general public, is the idea that evolution is “just a theory,” where “theory” is understood in a pejorative sense as something conjectural or speculative. Although scientists and textbooks constantly explain that the scientific use of “theory” is quite different, the pejorative use continues to cause confusion, in part because of its deep roots in a popular, Baconian, understanding of science. A constructivist approach, whereby students are helped to examine the adequacy of their preconceptions about “theory” for themselves and to revise or replace them appropriately, is recommended.