JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 45, NO. 4, PP. 420–443 (2008) Exploring the Factors Related to Acceptance of Evolutionary Theory Among Turkish Preservice Biology Teachers: Toward a More Informative Conceptual Ecology for Biological Evolution Hasan Deniz, 1 Lisa A. Donnelly, 2 Irfan Yilmaz 3 1 Curriculum and Instruction, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-3005 2 Department of Teaching Leadership and Curriculum Studies, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242 3 Department of Biology Education, Dokuz Eylul University, Buca, Izmir 35150, Turkey Received 12 June 2006; Accepted 22 June 2007 Abstract: In this study, using multiple regression analysis, we aimed to explore the factors related to acceptance of evolutionary theory among preservice Turkish biology teachers using conceptual ecology for biological evolution as a theoretical lens. We aimed to determine the extent to which we can account for the variance in acceptance of evolutionary theory by using understanding of evolutionary theory, epistemological beliefs, thinking dispositions, and parents’ educational level as independent variables. Preservice biology teachers’ thinking dispositions, their understanding of evolutionary theory, and their parents’ educational level are positively correlated with acceptance of evolutionary theory. We did not find any significant positive correlation between epistemological beliefs and acceptance of evolution because of low reliability coefficients of subscales of the epistemological beliefs instrument. Together they explained 10.5% of the variance. These results suggest that studying the relationship between acceptance of evolutionary theory and other related factors in a multivariate context is more informative than examining the relationship between acceptance of evolutionary theory and other factors in isolation. Our findings indicate that studying a controversial issue such as acceptance of evolutionary theory in a multivariate fashion, using conceptual ecology as a theoretical lens to interpret the findings, is informative. Our results suggest the inclusion of thinking dispositions in conceptual ecology for biological evolution. ß 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 420–443, 2008 Keywords: biology; teacher beliefs; evolution; epistemology Teaching about evolution has been endorsed as a unifying theme in biology by major science education policy documents (AAAS, 1993; NRC, 1996). However, suggestions made in policy documents are not necessarily reflected in science instruction. It is reasonable to expect that biology teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward the theory of evolution will influence evolution Correspondence to: H. Deniz; E-mail: hasan.deniz@univ.edu DOI 10.1002/tea.20223 Published online 5 November 2007 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). ß 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.