The how's and why's of biological change: how learners neglect physical mechanisms in their search for meaning

This study describes the trends in students' explanations of biological cha nge in organisms. A total of 96 student volunteers (8 students from each of 2(nd), 5(th), 8(th), and 12(th) grades from 3 localities) were interviewed individually and each student was presented a series of graphics depicting natural phenomena. Students' explanations to questions of how something oc curred were assigned to one of three categories (responses addressing how s omething occurred, why something occurred, and 'I don't know'). While the n umber of responses in each category was roughly equivalent in prominence ac ross grade levels, the majority of students were unable to offer a causal e xplanation of how a phenomena occurred. An unexpected phenomenon was the st udents' predilection to redirect the interview question so they could answe r them. If asked a how question, as they were in every interview instance, 32% the students answered with a 'why' response. The way biology is taught, the structure of biology or/and how we learn it could shed some light into this phenomenon and has implications for science educators.