The research field of evolutionary anthropology allows many connections to the curricula of primary school, in particular in science, social studies, and social-emotional learning, due to its interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary orientation with the aim of understanding humans, our history, our current cultural diversity and flexibility as well as the relationships between humans and their environment.
Research shows that from an early age, children can understand the relationship between characteristics of living beings and their functions for life, the concept of adaptiveness, and the process of natural selection. At the same time, children (and adults) also have misconceptions or learning difficulties regarding some concepts of evolution, which can be made visible through appropriate teaching methods and then changed or overcome.
In this module, we look at how evolutionary anthropology topics and concepts connect to various primary school curricula and learning objectives, and learn about research, teaching materials, and methods to use evolutionary theory to explore natural, technical, historical, social, and cultural topics.
Learning goals
- Development of (pedagogical) content knowledge on the subject of evolution/evolutionary anthropology in primary school teaching:
- get to know and understand important core concepts of evolution (content knowledge)
- Why is the topic of evolution important for elementary school (relation to curricula, educational standards, learning objectives/skills)
- Students' understanding of the core concepts of evolution, preconceptions and learning obstacles
- Getting to know appropriate teaching and assessment methods
- Development and reflection of a lesson/unit / of teaching materials on a topic of your choice
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In this forum you can discuss questions regarding this module and the materials found within it.