A glimpse of evolution education in the Malaysian context

Abstract

Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the widely held notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor. Darwin's general theory presumes the development of life from non-life and stresses a purely naturalistic (undirected) "descent with modification". That is, complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time. Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-religion country in the Southeast Asian region. Due to different religious backgrounds, evolutionary theory is always a sensitive and hotly-debated issue in the teaching of biology in Malaysian schools. This book chapter evaluates the place of evolutionary theory biology curriculum in Malaysian secondary schools. Emphases given to evolutionary theory in the biology teacher education programmes at two public universities as well as prospective biology teachers' attitudes towards evolutionary theory are also investigated. It can be concluded that the level of acceptance on evolutionary theory among Malaysian prospective biology teachers is low as evolutionary theory was not fully understood. Hence, the introduction of specific courses on biological evolution that cover its most fundamental principles is crucially needed in the biology teacher education programmes in the Malaysian context.