Overview of the chosen examples.

The theory of evolution is the core theory of the life sciences. However, due to its counterintuitive nature, learners of all ages have difficulties building coherent knowledge about evolution. Researchers propose to facilitate learning about evolution in school by introducing the topic to children at a younger age to foster learners’ pre-scientific ideas and prevent the establishment of inaccurate beliefs. However, assessment tools that could be used with young children are still lacking. This article presents the development and psychometric evaluation of the interview-based Conceptual Assessment of Children’s Ideas about Evolution (CACIE). The CACIE comprises 20 items about 10 concepts of the evolutionary principles variation, inheritance, and selection. They can be used with six different animal and plant species. The CACIE was tested with 85 children (1) in cross-sectional interviews and (2) in a test-retest design (n = 14). The instrument was developed using an empirically validated theoretical framework, informed by published instruments and interviews, and refined through pilot studies and observations. The assessment showed good agreement between raters and moderate test-retest reliability. The validity evidence for the responses generated by the CACIE is discussed, and guidelines for its use to measure children’s ideas about evolution are provided.进化论是生命科学的核心理论。然而，由于其反直觉的特性，各年龄段的学习者均难以构建起关于进化论的连贯知识体系。有研究者提出，可通过在更低年龄段向儿童引入进化论主题，培育学习者的前科学观念、避免错误信念的形成，以此推动学校中的进化论教学。但目前仍缺乏适用于低龄儿童的评估工具。本文介绍了基于访谈的儿童进化论观念概念评估量表（Conceptual Assessment of Children’s Ideas about Evolution, CACIE）的开发与心理测量学评估过程。该量表包含20道题目，覆盖进化论核心原理（变异、遗传与选择）的10个概念维度，可适配6种不同的动植物物种开展评估。本量表先后开展了两项测试：一是针对85名儿童的横断面访谈，二是针对14名儿童的重测设计验证（n=14）。本评估工具依托经实证验证的理论框架开发，参考已发表的同类评估工具与访谈资料，并通过预实验与观察研究完成迭代优化。评估结果显示，评分者间一致性良好，且重测信度处于中等水平。本文还讨论了基于CACIE所获儿童回应的效度证据，并提供了使用该量表测量儿童进化论观念的应用指南。