ABSTRACT

MOTA, Helenadja Santos. Biological Evolution and Religion: Attitudes of Young

Brazilian Students.2013. 272f. Tese (Doutorado em Educao) Faculdade de Educao,
Universidade de So Paulo, So Paulo, 2013.
Considering the reported difficulties in understanding the Biological Evolution Theory in the
science education. Present study aims to map the attitude of acceptance / rejection of the
theory of Biological Evolution of Brazilian students of High School and the possible
influences of personal religious beliefs in the acceptance of these topics Biological Evolution.
The research was conducted in the ambit of the international cooperative project The
Relevance of Science Education (Rose) - The Relevance of Science Education, implemented
in Brazil, through a nationally representative sample. The study sample was drawn through a
stratified sampling by 26 states and the Federal District with proportional allocation, having
as sampling universe the sample of the Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA) in Brazil in 2009. The research quantitative, lies within the field of educational
assessment and used as a tool for data collection Questions National questionnaire RoseBrazil by means of 23 items whose answers are expressed in a Likert scale of 4 points. In all,
2365 students participated in the survey, coming from 84 schools located in all Brazilian
states. Results found reveal that the high rate of positive attitude of students in relation to
active religiousness proves that religion is valued by young people researched affirmed that
are religious people and faith, and have understanding and belief in religious doctrines.
Expressed religiosity of young Brazilian students participating in the research does not
prevent them to believe in biological evolution. This acceptance, especially for a share of
young evangelical Christians, was a surprising result, since many of the problems detected in
the teaching of biological evolution refer to influence of religious beliefs on the acceptance of
evolutionist ideas, especially the evangelical segment, which tends to a fundamentalist
posture. Before the large number of young evangelicals participating in this study and the
increase in the number of evangelicals in the Brazilian population, it might be expected
greater rejection of these students in relation to biological evolutionary theory. The
acceptance of biological evolution by students without the have to relinquish their religious
beliefs, indicates a worldview that is compatible with science. These results suggest that in the
future we can have more flexible population ace interpretations of religious doctrines and
most sensitive scientific issues.

Keywords: Biological evolution. Science Education. Science and religion. Education of

evolution.