Emilio Rolán leads a manifesto in aid of education on evolutionary theory

In the neighboring countries, the key contents on the theory of evolution begin to be taught in Primary Education on a compulsory basis and continue to be gradually incorporated throughout Secondary Education and Baccalaureate. Thus, when students reach the university stage they have a solid foundation on one of the great conceptual revolutions in the history of mankind. On the contrary, in Spain the level of knowledge that university students have about evolution is very low, as shown by a recent study carried out in ten Spanish campuses and coordinated by the professor of the University of Vigo and a researcher at the CIM (Marine Research Center), Emilio Rolán.

Precisely, on the basis of the “disappointing” results of this analysis and the data provided by a second project, coordinated by two teachers from the University of Coruña, in which they review the evolutionary contents in Spanish education from Primary to High School. A group of Spanish university teachers have just published a Manifesto in aid of education on evolutionary theory. The text is signed, among others, by the Vigo Professor Emilio Rolán and in it they urge the need to rethink the way of teaching biology contents both at the pre-university and university levels. “We ask public managers to review and reform the education system urgently” and they are offered to those responsible for the different administrations to collaborate in this work “to help and advise” in this process and emphasize that “not giving adequate importance to educational processes means in practice slipping slowly but surely towards ignorance in key aspects that should define any modern and advanced society ”.

According to the authors of the manifesto, this reform of the university system would be of vital importance, since the study carried out among university students served to demonstrate that the more material on evolution the different universities included in the design of the degree in question, “the better prepared their students were. This implies that decisions about how a teaching itinerary is organized have an impact on our students, as it could not be otherwise”.

The core ideas of evolutionary theory, only in electives

After the study made public a month ago carried out in ten Spanish universities and coordinated by Emilio Rolán, another project once again certifies the problem that exists in Spain with the training of students in which it refers to evolutionary theory. On this occasion, it was two researchers from A Coruña, Ánxela M. Bugallo and Lucía Vázquez, who have just published a review of the evolutionary content in pre-university education in Spain. The result, as stated in the manifesto, “is again disappointing”, since it certifies that pre-university students “do not have any compulsory subject that reviews the fundamental principles of evolutionary theory” and these contents “are only incorporated into elective subjects of ESO and Baccalaureate ”, which implies that students who do not choose them“ will finish their pre-university education lacking the slightest knowledge about evolution ”. The researchers also compare the educational design of Spain with that of neighboring countries of reference “and we see that in them the key knowledge about evolutionary theory” is already beginning to be taught in Primary.

The signatories of the manifesto also warn of the possibility that what happens with evolutionary theory, also happens “in the whole of scientific education”. As a possible cause, they point out “the way in which the current teaching strategy is conceived, in which the teaching of huge amounts of material prevails to the detriment of teaching a coherent global vision”. As an example, they highlight that the contents taught and evaluated in any of the elective subjects of Biology in ESO or Baccalaureate, “include a multitude of details about the biochemistry of the different molecules, while leaving in the background the most relevant ideas that are part of evolutionary theory, such as common ancestry, speciation, or natural selection.

Source: DUVI