Surveys consistently report low levels of understanding
and acceptance of evolution in the United States (Miller
et al. 2006). Far from being a feature of the general public
alone, many undergraduates enter introductory biology
courses with minimal understanding of and numerous
misconceptions about evolution and its relationship to
other biological principles (Johnson and Peeples 1987;
Sundberg 1997; Dagher and BouJaoude 1997; Bishop and
Anderson 1990; Meir et al. 2007; Nehm and Reilly 2007).
This lack of understanding has been shown to often
continue throughout undergraduate education and even
into graduate school (Alters and Nelson 2002; Nehm and
Reilly 2007; Gregory and Ellis 2009 Losos et al. 2013).
Insufficient instruction by high school biology teachers
who may accept evolution but hold misconceptions
about it or limit coverage to avoid conflicts; teachers who
do not accept the scientific validity of evolution, question
the existence of evidence supporting evolution, or doubt
its acceptance by scientists; and teachers who continue to
present non-scientific explanations as equivalent if not
superior “alternatives” to biological evolution have been
identified as causes of low understanding and acceptance
of evolution in high school graduates (National Academy
of Sciences 1999, 2008; Rutledge and Mitchell 2002:
Miller 2005; Moore and Kraemer 2005; Verhey 2005;