Additional file 1
Survey of Professional Development Needs for Evolution Instructors
Q1.1 The purpose of this survey is to better understand the professional development needs of Missouri
biology teachers regarding evolution teaching. Your participation will inform the design of a new
evolution course for teachers and may improve the professional development opportunities available to
Missouri biology teachers. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. At the end of
the survey, you may enter into a drawing to win one of four $75 Amazon gift certificates. To enter the
drawing, you will be prompted to enter your email address which will be kept separate from your data.
Your participation is voluntary and you may terminate your participation at any time. Your participation
will be kept confidential.
Q2.1 Are you currently teaching at least one general biology course?
 Yes (1)
 No (2)
Answer If Are you currently teaching at least one general biology c... No Is Selected
Q2.2 Did you teach at least one general biology course last year?
 Yes (1)
 No (2)
If No Is Selected, Then Skip To End of Survey
Q2.3 Counting this year, how many total years have you taught a high school general biology course?
(Do not count student teaching.)
Q2.4 Select your undergraduate degree





Biology (1)
Biology Education (2)
Unified Science with Biology emphasis (3)
Unified Science, not biology emphasis (4)
Other (5) ____________________
Q2.5 Have you completed an evolution course at either the graduate or undergraduate level?
 Yes (1)
 No (0)
Q2.6 Have you completed a master's degree?
 Yes (1)
 No (0)
Answer If Have you completed a master's degree? Yes Is Selected
Q2.7 Which category best describes your master's degree program?




Education (1)
Administration (2)
Biology or Biology Related Field (3)
Other (4) ____________________
Q2.8 Which category best describes your current teacher certification?
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Biology 9-12 (1)
Unified Sciences with biology emphasis 9-12 (2)
Unified Sciences with chemistry emphasis 9-12 (3)
Unified Sciences with Physics emphasis 9-12 (4)
Unified Sciences with Earth Science 9-12 (5)
Not certified in Biology or Unified Sciences 9-12 (6)
Q2.9 What was your path to certification in biology?




Undergraduate major (1)
Master's with certification (2)
PRAXIS Exam (3)
Post-baccaulaureate certification with no master's (4)
Q3.1 Which of the following professional organizations are you currently a member? Check all that
apply.


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Science Teachers of Missouri (STOM) (1)
National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) (2)
National Association of Biology Teachers (3)
Not a member of any of these three organizations (4)
Q3.2 How many biology teachers, other than yourself, are in your science department?




0 (1)
1 (2)
2 (3)
3 or more (4)
Q3.3 Based on the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), how is your school
classified?





Class 1 (1)
Class 2 (2)
Class 3 (3)
Class 4 (4)
Class 5 (5)
Q3.4 How would you characterize your school?
 urban (1)
 suburban (2)
 rural (3)
Q3.5 How would you rate the following individual/groups in regard to their level of support for teaching
evolution? For the items below, if you don't know, indicate neutral.
not supportive (1)
neutral (2)
supportive (3)
prinicipal (1)



school board (2)



community (3)



other science teachers
in your buildings (4)



Q3.6 In an average year, how many parents contact you expressing concern related to your evolution
instruction?





None (0)
1 (1)
2 (2)
3 (3)
4 or more (4)
Q4.1 How familiar are you with each of the following web-based evolution resources?
Not familiar (1)
Somewhat
familiar, but have
not used (2)
Familiar and used
once in my classes
(3)
Very familiar and
regularly use in
my biology classes
(4)
Berkeley's
Understanding
Evolution website
(1)




Berkeley's How
Science Works
website (2)




PBS Nova's
Evolution website
(3)




Institute of
Human Origin's
Becoming Human
website (4)




Q4.2 List any other web-based evolution education websites that you use.
Q4.3 How familiar are you with each of the following teacher resource books for teaching evolution?
Not familiar (1)
Somewhat
familiar, but have
not used (2)
Familiar and used
once in my classes
(3)
Very familiar and
regularly use in
my biology classes
(4)
Science, Evolution,
and Creationism
(National
Academy of
Sciences) (1)




NSTA's An Inquiry
Into Biological
Evolution (2)


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
NSTA Tool Kit for
Teaching
Evolution (3)




Teaching about
Evolution and the
Nature of Science
(National
Academy Press)
(4)




The Creation
Controversy & the
Science Classroom
(NSTA) (5)




Q4.4 List any other teacher resources books that you use for teaching evolution.
Q4.5 Other Evolution Education Resources: Please list and briefly describe natural selection labs,
computer simulations, assessments, or any other helpful teaching resources that you currently use.
Q5.1 Please rate your level of understanding of each of the following evolution topics.
No
understanding
(1)
Limited
understanding
(2)
Adequate for
teaching
general
biology (3)
In-depth
understanding
for teaching an
advanced
biology course
(4)
Natural Selection (1)




Human Evolution (2)




Origin of Life (3)




Microevolution (4)




Macroevolution/Speciation
(5)




Allele frequencies (6)




Contemporary Examples of
Evolution in Action (7)




Cladograms/Phylogenetic
trees (8)




Molecular evidence (9)




Fossil evidence (10)




Homologies/vestigial traits
(11)




Geological Timeline (12)




Nature of Science (13)

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

Q5.2 Are there other evolution topics you would like to know more about?
Q5.3 How confident are you in your ability to effectively teach each of the following topics in a general
biology course?
Not confident (1)
Somewhat Confident
(2)
Confident (3)
Natural Selection (1)



Human Evolution (2)



Origin of Life (3)



Microevolution (4)



Macroevolution/Speciation
(5)



Allele frequencies (6)



Contemporary Examples of
Evolution in Action (7)



Cladograms/Phylogenetic
trees (8)



Molecular evidence (9)



Fossil evidence (10)



Homologies/vestigial traits
(11)



Geological timeline (12)



Nature of science (13)



Q5.4 What additional support do you need to increase your confidence in effectively teaching evolution
?
Q5.5 If you were to participate in a professional development class/workshop for teaching evolution,
how much emphasis would you prefer be placed on each of the following?
No emphasis (1)
Some emphasis (2)
Great emphasis (3)
contemporary
evolution examples (1)b



current evolution
research (2)b



evolution simulations
(3)b



evolution video
resources (4)a



evolution investigations
using real data and/or
live organisms (5)b



responding to
opposition to evolution
(6)a



sequencing of evolution
topics in the curriculum
(7)a



common student
misconceptions related
to evolution (8)a



writing evolution
assessment items (9)a



introducing evolution to
students (10)a



connections to other
units (11)a

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
evolution in the
Frameworks for K-12
Science Education &
Next Generation
Science Standards (12)c



evolution in Missouri
CLEs (13)c



Nature of Science (14)a



a
Basic pedagogy
Contemporary evolution instruction
c
Standards-based evolution instruction
b
Q5.6 Would you be interested in participating in an on-line community of evolution educators?
 Yes (1)
 No (0)
Q5.7 Reflecting on your pre-service teacher education program, how could you have been better
prepared to teach evolution?
Q6.1 Please think back to the last time you needed to respond to a concern or question regarding your
evolution teaching. This concern may have been from a parent, administrator, student, etc. Which
statement best describes that experience?





I felt uncomfortable and unsuccessful addressing the concern. (1)
I felt uncomfortable but successful addressing the concern. (2)
I felt comfortable but was unsuccessful in addressing the concern. (3)
I felt comfortable and successful addressing the concern. (4)
I have never experienced any concerns or questions about my teaching of evolution. (5)
Q6.2 Currently, what obstacles do you face in teaching evolution?
Not an obstacle
(1)
Small obstacle I
can overcome on
my own (2)
Constant obstacle
I struggle with (3)
Great obstacle
that hinders my
instruction (4)
Evolution is not
emphasized on
state tests (1)a




Lack of content
knowledge
regarding evolution
content (2)a




Lack of confidence
in my ability to
effectively teach
evolution (3)a




Lack of resources to
teach evolution (4)b




Lack of support
from my
administration (5)a




Lack of support
from my
department/peers
(6)a




Lack of support
from
parents/community
members (7)a




Fear of controversy
(8)a




Negative student
response (9)a


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
Lack of good labs
(10)b



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Poor textbook (11)b
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Lack of
supplemental
materials (12)b


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
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

a
Obstacles to getting support for teaching evolution
Obstacles to getting appropriate materials for teaching evolution
b
Q7.1 Consider the last year you taught a general biology course. Did you teach evolution?
 Yes (1)
 No (0)
Answer If Consider the last year you taught a general biology cours... Yes Is Selected
Q7.2 In a typical school year, what percent of your instructional time is devoted to evolution?
Answer If Consider the last year you taught a general biology cours... Yes Is Selected
Q7.3 Which of the following best describes your approach to evolution instruction?
 I teach evolution as one stand-alone unit. (1)
 I teach evolution throughout the year, but do not teach one unit devoted to evolution. (2)
 I teach one unit devoted to evolution, but I also teach evolution as a unifying concept throughout
the school year. (3)
Answer If Consider the last year you taught a general biology cours... Yes Is Selected
Q7.4 How much time do you devote to each of the following topics?
No time (1)
Less than 50
minutes (2)
50 - 150 minutes
(3)
More than 150
minutes (4)
Natural Selection (1)




Human Evolution (2)




Origin of Life (3)




Microevolution (4)




Macroevolution/speciation
(5)




Contemporary examples of
evolution (6)




Cladograms/Phylogenetic
trees (7)




Molecular evidence (8)




Fossil evidence (9)




Homologies/vestigial traits
(10)




Geological timeline (11)




Nature of science (12)




Q8.1 Thank you for completing the survey. If you would like to be entered in a drawing for one of four
$75 Amazon.com gift certificates, please enter your email address below. Your email address will be
separated from your survey data so that email address and data are not linked. All responses and emails
will be kept confidential.