Table 2 Descriptive statistics for types of evidence in human evolution lesson plans (N = 86)
From: A content analysis of pre-college lesson plans on human evolution
Evidence For Teaching Human Evolution (Categories and Subcategories) | n | Category Percentage from Category Frequency (n = 176) | Sub-category Percent Within Parent Category (Totals) | Percentages of Categories and Sub-categories within Total (n = 426) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hominid-based Fossils | 54 | 30.7 | – | 12.7 |
 Skull Comparison (Brain or Jaw Size) | 31 |  | 37.8 | 7.3 |
 Skeletal Comparison (Bipedalism) | 27 |  | 32.9 | 6.3 |
 Other Fossils (Footprints/Molds/Casts) | 24 |  | 29.7 | 5.6 |
Common Ancestry | 22 | 12.5 | – | 5.2 |
 Homology or Analogy (to extant non-primates) | 5 |  | 17.2 | 1.2 |
 Cladistics | 7 |  | 24.1 | 1.6 |
 Vestigial Structures | 1 |  | 3.4 | 0.23 |
 Comparative Embryology | 1 |  | 3.4 | 0.23 |
 Comparative Anatomy (to extant primates) | 15 |  | 51.7 | 3.5 |
aBiochemical | 34 | 19.3 | – | 8.0 |
 Chromosomes/DNA/RNA Comparison | 18 |  | 32.1 | 4.2 |
 Evolutionary Genetics (Heredity) | 16 |  | 28.6 | 3.8 |
 Phylogenetics (Phylogeny) | 16 |  | 28.6 | 3.8 |
 Hybridization or Interbreeding | 3 |  | 5.4 | 0.70 |
 Molecular Clocks | 2 |  | 3.6 | 0.47 |
aAge (Geology) | 16 | 9.1 | – | 3.8 |
 Relative Age: Biostratigraphy & Biochronology | 11 |  | 55 | 2.6 |
 Absolute Age: Radiometric Dating | 3 |  | 15 | 0.70 |
 Geologic Time / Scale | 5 |  | 25 | 1.2 |
Biogeography | 11 | 6.25 | – | 2.6 |
 Regional Hypotheses | 11 |  | 78.6 | 2.6 |
 Multiregional hypotheses | 2 |  | 14.3 | 0.47 |
Hominid Behavior | 24 | 13.6 | – | 5.6 |
 Tools / Weapons: Hunting/Cooking | 17 |  | 65.4 | 4.0 |
 Art or Language: Drawings/Music/Jewelry/Clothing | 10 |  | 38.5 | 2.3 |
 Agricultural Revolution: Food Storage/Domestication/Settlements | 3 |  | 11.5 | 0.70 |
Affective Processes: Social Bonds, Feelings, Religion | 2 | Â | 7.7 | 0.47 |
 Behavioral Similarities to other extant Primates | 3 |  | 11.5 | 0.70 |
Social Science Perspectives | 15 | 8.5 | – | 3.5 |
 Nature of Science | 13 |  | 76.5 | 3.1 |
 SocioScientific Issues (History) | 3 |  | 17.6 | 0.70 |
 SocioScientific Issues (Race) | 1 |  | 5.9 | 0.23 |