Publikationen – OpenEvo

Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen und andere Medien

Wir veröffentlichen wissenschaftliche Beiträge in peer reviewed Journals für Evolutionsunterricht, naturwissenschaftliche Bildung, Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung und interdisziplinäre Humanwissenschaften.

Wir streben darüber hinaus Open Science Standards an und veröffentlichen unsere Preprints und andere Publikationen der Wissenschaftskommunikation.

Ausgewählte Artikel und Buchkapitel

Learning to navigate change: Case studies in education across cultural boundaries

Eirdosh, D., Prasetijo, A., Aprilia, C., Greenfield, P. M., Lavi, N., Muchukunnu, A., ... & Rothstein-Fisch, C. (2025). Learning to navigate change: Case studies in education across cultural boundaries. In A Field Guide to Cross-Cultural Research on Childhood Learning: Theoretical, Methodological, Practical, and Ethical Considerations for an Interdisciplinary Field (pp. 267-308). Open Book Publishers.

This chapter explores the complex cultural dynamics of schooling and social learning traditions across diverse communities, shedding light on the potential conflicts and opportunities found at the intersection of globalized educational models and local community values. The concept of ethno-diverse theories of schooling is introduced as a general frame to reflect on the cultural-cognitive models influencing individual, community, and even expert perceptions of educational policies and practices. A series of case studies from researchers and practitioners across globally diverse communities reveals systemic challenges and opportunities in the adaptation of local contexts to global educational change. These cases vary widely in terms of author foci and community demographics, yet some connective themes become clear. Conclusions highlight two key implications for globalizing educational policies, drawn from across these diverse communities. Ultimately, educational policy must better account for local cultural context, while also more proactively driving participatory means of valued school improvement.

Understanding agency in evolutionary explanations: An assessment tool for biology education

Evolution education seeks to help students develop scientifically adequate explanations of evolutionary adaptations. Those explanations are usually thought to entail only processes that act independently of organism agency, such as genetic mutation, inheritance, and selection. However, the role of organism agency in evolutionary outcomes has been reconsidered by evolutionary biologists in recent decades. We suggest that this agential perspective offers new potential and implications for evolution education. To explore this potential, we developed the assessment tool EvoFlex. It aims to identify students’ ability to flexibly and adequately integrate the role of organism agency across cases of evolutionary adaptation. We implemented this assessment tool with preservice biology teachers, followed by interviews with a subset of respondents. Results indicate that many participants could recognise the scientifically adequate integration of organism agency across cases, despite not being specifically trained in this perspective. However, other students were also prone to disregard any role of organism agency, or they had difficulty thinking about what role it might play in evolution. Our results highlight that the agential perspective has potential in evolution education and point to several future directions in educational research and practice.

Menschliches Verhalten und Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung - Ein Versuch der didaktischen Reduktion

Hanisch, S., & Schneider, D. P. (2025). Menschliches Verhalten und Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung – Ein Versuch der didaktischen Reduktion. die hochschullehre, 11(44), 575–589. https://doi.org/10.3278/HSL2544W

In der nachhaltigen Entwicklung spielt menschliches Verhalten eine zentrale Rolle bei Problemen und deren Lösungen. Gleichzeitig wird in der Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) zunehmend die Förderung von Handlungskompetenz in den Mittelpunkt gestellt. Somit kommt dem Thema des menschlichen Verhaltens eine zentrale Rolle in der BNE zu. Wie aber können Lehrkräfte befähigt werden, menschliches Verhalten in ihrem Unterricht zu thematisieren? In diesem Beitrag stellen wir eine Fallstudie vor, die sich mit der Weiterentwicklung des Moduls „Menschliches Verhalten und nachhaltige Entwicklung” in der Lehramtsausbildung beschäftigt. Dabei stehen sowohl Maßnahmen der didaktischen Reduktion als auch Anregungen von Tiefenlernprozessen im Fokus. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass diese Maßnahmen es ermöglichten, dass Teilnehmende ein breites Orientierungswissen über verhaltenswissenschaftliche Konzepte erlangen können. Gleichzeitig wurde eine tiefere Verarbeitung der Lerngegenstände angeregt. Auch konnten die Lehrenden die individuellen Lernprozesse der Teilnehmenden gezielter begleiten. Insgesamt unterstreichen diese Erfahrungen das Potenzial, menschliches Verhalten als Unterrichtsgegenstand in der BNE zu behandeln.

Developing Teacher Competencies for Teaching Evolution across the Primary School Curriculum: A Design Study of a Pre-Service Teacher Education Module

Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2023). Developing Teacher Competencies for Teaching Evolution across the Primary School Curriculum: A Design Study of a Pre-Service Teacher Education Module. Education Sciences, 13(8), 797. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13080797

Numerous studies indicate that evolutionary concepts can and should be taught at the primary school level. However, teaching evolution in primary school is presumably not yet the norm globally. At the same time, the educational potential of evolutionary concepts lies in their applicability to many curriculum topics in the natural and social sciences. Capitalizing on this potential requires broad teacher content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) about the teaching of evolutionary concepts. However, not much is known regarding ways to develop primary teacher CK and PCK during pre-service training. In this article, we present the iterative design, implementation, and mixed methods formative evaluation (based on a design-based research framework) of a pre-service teacher education module. Its aim was to promote the development of pre-service primary school teacher CK, PCK, as well as motivation and confidence for teaching evolution across the primary school curriculum. Results indicate that pre-service teachers can be supported and motivated to teach evolutionary concepts across various themes in the primary school curriculum through a semester long course. Participants were able to develop core aspects of CK and PCK regarding the teaching of evolutionary concepts in primary school. The resulting module design integrates existing collective PCK on teaching evolution at the primary level as well as novel design considerations and teaching approaches that can be integrated into pre-service teacher education programs. However, challenges remain, particularly regarding the integration of evolutionary concepts in mandated curriculum standards such that the educational potential of evolution can be fully capitalized on by teachers.

Behavioral Science and Education for Sustainable Development: Towards Metacognitive Competency

Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2023). Behavioral Science and Education for Sustainable Development: Towards Metacognitive Competency. Sustainability 15, no. 9: 7413. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097413

Behavioral science is increasingly considered foundational for addressing various sustainable development challenges. Behavioral change and action competence have also become important goals in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), complementing and interacting with other educational goals such as the development of sustainability-relevant knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes. We argue that these interconnected learning goals of ESD can be advanced by integrating interdisciplinary behavioral science concepts, methods, and insights into the design of curricula, learning environments, and processes for participatory whole-school approaches. Specifically, we highlight the role of metacognitive competency in self-directed individual and collective behavior change and we present our educational design concept for teaching human behavior as an interdisciplinary theme in ESD.

Teaching for the interdisciplinary understanding of evolutionary concepts

Hanisch, S., Eirdosh, D. (2023). Teaching for the Interdisciplinary Understanding of Evolutionary Concepts. In: du Crest, A., Valković, M., Ariew, A., Desmond, H., Huneman, P., Reydon, T.A.C. (eds) Evolutionary Thinking Across Disciplines. Synthese Library, vol 478. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33358-3_8

Evolutionary concepts are used, with varying and arguable degrees of scientific utility, across a wide range of disciplines. Evolution education, however, remains overwhelmingly within the confines of biology education, when it is taught at all within general education. The reasons for this disciplinary myopism are complex, and normative guidance for curriculum designers is scarce. This contribution explores how understanding the structures of knowledge, or the organization of facts and generalizations in science, cognition, and education, may help illuminate the educational potential and evidence-informed pedagogical practices appropriate for teaching about the interdisciplinary application of evolutionary concepts.

A community science model for interdisciplinary evolution education and school improvement

Eirdosh, D., Hanisch, S. (2023). A Community Science Model for Inter-disciplinary Evolution Education and School Improvement. In: du Crest, A., Valković, M., Ariew, A., Desmond, H., Huneman, P., Reydon, T.A.C. (eds) Evolutionary Thinking Across Disciplines. Synthese Library, vol 478. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33358-3_7

A generalized conceptualization of evolutionary processes allows for a view of the cognitive, behavioral, and cultural variation in our everyday lives as elements of diverse evolving systems. Such a view invites questions about how cultural evolutionary processes may favor or hinder the expression of variant thoughts and behaviors, any of which may be more or less valued by any given community. From an educational perspective, this implies an untapped potential for engaging students in understanding the cultural evolutionary dynamics of their everyday lives, schools, and broader communities. As a strategy to engage this potential, the Community Science Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology is developing a unique model of Community-Based Cultural Evolution (CBCE) for inter-institutional collaboration at the intersection of evolution education and applied school improvement efforts. Using advances in teaching for conceptual understanding and transfer of learning, the CBCE model aims to empower students to clarify, investigate, and collaboratively influence the cultural evolutionary dynamics of their own school and surrounding communities. The relationship between students’ evolving intuitive theories of school improvement, and the evolving scientific theories of school improvement scientists, provides a framework for understanding the development of student conceptions of cultural (and, perhaps, biological) change more generally. This chapter provides a conceptual foundation for exploring the claim that engaging students in reflecting on the cognitive, behavioral, and cultural evolutionary processes in their everyday lives provides new opportunities for school improvement and interdisciplinary evolution education initiatives. The practical and systemic challenges of this approach are clarified and future directions are outlined.

Causal mapping as a teaching tool for reflecting on causation in human evolution

Hanisch, S. & Eirdosh, D. (2020). Causal mapping as a teaching tool for reflecting on causation in human evolution. Science & Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-020-00157-z

Teleological reasoning is viewed as a major hurdle to evolution education, and yet, eliciting, interpreting, and reflecting upon teleological language presents an arguably greater challenge to the evolution educator and researcher. This article argues that making explicit the role of behavior as a causal factor in the evolution of particular traits may prove productive in helping students to link their everyday experience of behavior to evolutionary changes in populations in ways congruent with scientific perspectives. We present a teaching tool, used widely in other parts of science and science education, yet perhaps underutilized in human evolution education—the causal map—as a novel direction for driving conceptual change in the classroom about the role of organism behavior and other factors in evolutionary change. We describe the scientific and conceptual basis for using such causal maps in human evolution education, as well as theoretical considerations for implementing the causal mapping tool in human evolution classrooms. Finally, we offer considerations for future research and educational design.

Educational potential of teaching evolution as an interdisciplinary science

Hanisch, S. & Eirdosh, D. (2020). Educational potential of teaching evolution as an interdisciplinary science. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 13 (25). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12052-020-00138-4

Evolution education continues to struggle with a range of persistent challenges spanning aspects of conceptual understanding, acceptance, and perceived relevance of evolutionary theory by students in general education. This article argues that a gene-centered conceptualization of evolution may inherently limit the degree to which these challenges can be effectively addressed, and may even precisely contribute to and exacerbate these challenges. Against that background, we also argue that a trait-centered, generalized, and interdisciplinary conceptualization of evolution may hold significant learning potential for advancing progress in addressing some of these persistent challenges facing evolution education. We outline a number of testable hypotheses about the educational value of teaching evolutionary theory from this more generalized and interdisciplinary conception.

Cooperation as a causal factor in human evolution: a scientific clarification and analysis of German high school biology textbooks

Hanisch, S., & Eirdosh, D. (2024). Cooperation as a causal factor in human evolution: A scientific clarification and analysis of German high school biology textbooks. Journal of Biological Education, 58(1), 64–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2021.2020875

Many evolutionary anthropologists view cooperation as core to the evolutionary success of our species. Concurrently, many sustainability scientists view cooperation as core to the future sustainable development of our species. When it comes to biology education, however, it is unclear how or if students are being engaged in these scientific perspectives. This article offers an overview of scientific perspectives regarding cooperation as a central causal factor in shaping human behaviour, cognition, and culture during human evolution. Against this background, we analysed 23 German high school biology textbooks with the aim to understand if and how cooperation is presented as a causal factor in human evolution and behaviour. Overall, the role of cooperation, especially the emotional and motivational aspects of cooperative behaviour, and the role of a cooperative social and cultural environment in shaping human traits, appears to be significantly deemphasized compared to the role of individual brain size and ‘intelligence’ in the evolution of our species. Furthermore, in sections on behavioural ecology, humans are hardly ever presented as an example of a highly cooperative species. Overall, textbooks show a diversity of strengths and weaknesses, from which we identify several learning opportunities in the appropriate integration of cooperation science within biology education.

Are humans a cooperative species? Challenges and opportunities for teaching the evolution of human prosociality.

Hanisch, S. & Eirdosh, D. (2021). Are humans a cooperative species? Challenges and opportunities for teaching the evolution of human prosociality. The American Biology Teacher, 83 (6). https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2021.83.6.356

Evolutionary anthropologists commonly describe humans as a highly cooperative species, based on our evolved socio-cognitive capacities. However, students and the general public may not necessarily share this view about our species. At the same time, fostering our ability to cooperate is considered a key foundation for achieving sustainable development, and students’ understanding of the conditions that enable or hinder cooperation is therefore an important learning goal in sustainability education. In this article, we describe a small classroom activity that explored students’ and preservice biology teachers’ preconceptions about the human capacity to cooperate around shared resources in comparison to the capacity of our closest relative, the chimpanzee. Results indicate that students and teachers had limited knowledge about the evolved human capacity for cooperation around shared resources in small groups, most often viewing chimpanzees as more capable of cooperation and sustainable resource use. Based on the results of this classroom intervention, we highlight important learning opportunities for educators in biology on teaching human evolution and human behavior, particularly as related to current challenges of sustainable development.

Weitere Publikationen

Das komplexe Selbst. Ein Leitfaden zur Erkundung der Psyche in Bildungssettings durch evolutionäre und kontextuelle Verhaltenswissenschaft

Freymann, J. (2024). Das komplexe Selbst - Ein Leitfaden zur Erkundung der Psyche in Bildungssettings durch evolutionäre und kontextuelle Verhaltenswissenschaft. 1. Ausgabe. Leipzig/Berlin, Germany.

Dieser Leitfaden richtet sich an Lehrkräfte, Studierende und alle, die daran interessiert sind, die menschliche Psyche im Bildungskontext durch die Perspektive der evolutionären und kontextuellen Verhaltenswissenschaften zu erkunden. In dieser ersten Ausgabe laden wir dich auf eine Reise ein, um darüber nachzudenken, was es bedeutet, ein Mensch zu sein, und wie wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse uns dabei helfen können, verschiedene aktuelle Herausforderungen in unterschiedlichen Kontexten zu bewältigen. Dazu betrachten wir die Psyche durch das WER-T-Modell (Hayes & Ciarrochi, 2015) und integrieren dabei andere wissenschaftliche Perspektiven, das Wissen aus alten Traditionen sowie die Weisheit großer Denkerinnen und Denker vergangener Zeiten, vermittelt durch Geschichten und Zitate. Die Übungen in diesem Leitfaden laden dich dazu ein, deine Psyche aus verschiedenen Perspektiven zu erleben. Ergänzend unterstützen speziell für diesen Leitfaden entworfene Grafiken das Verständnis und fördern den Lernprozess.

Menschliches Verhalten als Querschnittsthema in der BNE

Hanisch, S., & Tempelmann, S. (2023). Menschliches Verhalten als Querschnittsthema in der BNE. Journal Für lehrerInnenbildung, 23(3), 84–91. https://doi.org/10.35468/jlb-03-2023-08

Verhaltensdimensionen spielen eine zentrale Rolle bei allen Herausforderungen einer sozial, ökonomisch und ökologisch nachhaltigen Entwicklung. Menschliches Verhalten ist ein wichtiger Treiber praktisch aller Nachhaltigkeitsprobleme und muss entsprechend Teil deren Lösung sein. Folgerichtig wird den Verhaltenswissenschaften eine zunehmend zentrale Rolle in der Bewältigung dieser Herausforderungen eingeräumt (UN, 2021). Daraus lässt sich der Anspruch an eine Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE; sensu UNESCO & Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission e. V., 2020) ableiten, verhaltenswissenschaftliche Aspekte prominent zu integrieren. Diesem Anspruch folgend stellen wir ein pädagogisches Gestaltungskonzept zur Implementierung menschlichen Verhaltens als fächerübergreifendes Thema sowie eine auf dieser Basis entwickelte Lehrveranstaltung für angehende Lehrpersonen vor. Zudem werden wir die Implementierung der Lehrveranstaltung an zwei Lehrer*innenbildungsinstitutionen skizzieren und reflektieren.

Evolving cooperation and sustainability for common pool resources

Sustainable resource management is often a matter of managing common-pool resources (CPRs), which include the social and material resources shared by groups of individuals. CPRs can be prone to overuse through competition between resource users who are motivated to maximise their resource use (or contribute little to the maintenance of the resource) for individual gain and at the expense of group-level sustainability—an outcome known as the Tragedy of the Commons. CPR dilemmas are pervasive in human contexts, ranging from mitigating climate change to sharing public spaces, fighting a pandemic or tackling antimicrobial resistance. Since CPR dilemmas are also found across the non-human living world, sustainability scientists, economists and evolutionary biologists are interested in the dynamics of competition and cooperation around resources. In this chapter, we argue that students’ conceptual understanding of CPR dilemmas through exploration and critical reflections on human and non-human examples is central to developing a basic understanding of sustainability issues more broadly, as well as of evolutionary dynamics that can help explain the evolution of cooperative social behaviours and conflict resolution mechanisms. We provide an overview of the science of CPR dilemmas in the evolution of living systems and human natural resource contexts. Moreover, we present a flexible set of resources that educators in secondary school biology or environmental science can employ to help students engage in cross-cutting concepts, scientific ideas of the life sciences and a range of scientific practices to develop understandings and socioscientific reasoning skills surrounding real-world issues of sustainable resource use.

Lehren und Lernen über Evolution, Verhalten und nachhaltige Entwicklung. Ein Leitfaden

Dieser Leitfaden richtet sich an Lehrende aller Fächer und Schularten, SchülerInnen und andere, die an Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung aus der Perspektive der evolutionären Anthropologie interessiert sind. Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) ist ein von der UNESCO geleitetes weltweites Programm. Es hat das Ziel, in SchülerInnen und Lehrenden Kompetenzen zu fördern, die sie für die Herausforderungen der globalen Nachhaltigkeit sensibilisieren und handlungsfähig machen sollen. Viele Ansätze, Orientierungsrahmen, Unterrichts- und Informationsmaterialien von verschiedensten Akteuren existieren bereits zur BNE. Unsere Bildungsarbeit besteht darin, den BNE-Ansatz um einige, aus unserer Sicht zentrale Aspekte zu ergänzen: übergreifende Konzepte und Erkenntnisse aus den Forschungsfeldern der evolutionären Anthropologie, Evolutionsbiologie, Verhaltenswissenschaften und Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaften. In diesem Leitfaden finden Sie deshalb eine kurze Einführung in diese Themenfelder, und deren Bedeutung für ein vernetztes Verständnis von nachhaltiger Entwicklung. In diesem Leitfaden werden auch Konzepte und Tipps vorgestellt, mit deren Hilfe Sie Lehr-/Lernmaterialien und Unterrichtseinheiten zu den Themen menschliche Evolution, menschliches Verhalten und Nachhaltigkeit entwickeln bzw. an Ihren Kontext anpassen können.

Andere Medien

TEDxLeipzigInternationalSchool

Warum menschliches Verhalten im Zentrum von Bildung und Lernen ist

In diesem TEDx Vortrag spricht OpenEvo Koordinator Dustin Eirdosh, darüber warum menschliches Verhalten ein zentrales, fächerübergreifendes Thema in der Bildung sein sollte.

TEDxLeipzigInternationalSchool

Why human behavior is at the center of education and learning

Watch OpenEvo co-founder, Dustin Eirdosh, deliver a TEDx talk on teaching human behavior as an interdisciplinary theme.

Frontiers for Young Minds

Frontiers for Young Minds Artikel für Kinder und Jugendliche

Sánchez-Amaro, A., Eirdosh, D., & Haun, D. (2024). Studying Great Apes and Cultural Diversity To Understand the Human Mind. Frontiers for Young Minds, 12, 1337514. https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2024.1337514

Cronin KA and Hopper LM (2020) Do Monkeys Care What Is Fair? Front. Young Minds 8:550299. doi: 10.3389/frym.2020.550299

Hanisch, S., Eirdosh, D., Schäfer, M., and Haun, D. (2021). What Is “Fair” Is Not the Same Everywhere. Frontiers for Young Minds. 9:580435

Blogs und online Artikel

Blog-Beiträge und andere Online-Artikel

What was Darwin thinking? A Lesson From The Psychology of Evolution

To understand how the theory of evolution has developed, we have to understand what exactly Darwin was thinking. Rather, I should say we have to understand how he was thinking.

Education is an Evolutionary Science. Why Don’t We Teach It That Way?

Educational sciences have long be informed by discussions in the evolutionary sciences, so why don’t teacher education programs (or whole school communities) explore these fascinating big questions on the nature of humans, learning, and schooling?

Finding Purpose in Evolution Education

How should evolution educators help students reconcil the human sense of purpose with the complex processes of evolutionary change?

It’s Time to Fix Evolution’s Public Relations Problem

Evolution has a public relations problem. Not the well-known problem of evolution acceptance on religious grounds, but rather one which also includes secular and scientific communities. This is the problem of accepting the relevance of evolutionary theory for understanding the human condition.

Elinor’s Classroom: Developing a Connected Concept of the Commons for 21st Century Civic Education

There is an important link between Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom’s scientific work on collective action, and emerging perspectives in the evolutionary human sciences, such that this work may also have significant import for how we teach evolution science itself.

Transfer of Learning in Evolution Understanding: A Challenge Not Just For Students

One of the “holy grails” of education is to develop in students the ability to transfer their prior learning to new contexts and, most importantly, to the world and their lives outside of the classroom. How educators and scientists think about evolution may relate to how we achieve (or not) this elusive goal of learning that transfers.