Perceived Conflict Overshadows Knowledge: A Mixed Methods Study of Religious Muslim Undergraduate Students’ Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution

The main purpose of this study was to explain that perceived conflict is an important factor influencing the acceptance of the theory of evolution among Muslim undergraduate students in Indonesia. This study used a sequential explanatory mixed methods design. In the first step, we used an established instrument to survey 507 Biology and Biology Education students regarding their acceptance, knowledge of evolution, religiosity, perceived conflict, and demographic factors. In the second step, the findings from the previous step were used as the basis for conducting focus group discussions with 16 students about the role of religion in influencing their views on the theory of evolution. The results revealed that acceptance of the theory of evolution, knowledge, and perceived conflict were moderate, whereas religiosity was high. The study indicated that knowledge and religiosity accounted for less than 3%. Another important finding was that students’ perceived conflict between religion and evolution was a strong predictor, accounting for approximately 12%. In our sample, perceived conflict was more accurate in predicting acceptance of the theory of evolution than knowledge and religiosity were. In addition, demographic variables such as academic year, study program, and ethnicity were statistically associated with acceptance. The results of the qualitative data also confirm that students have fairly good acceptance and knowledge of evolution. At the same time, students also feel that there are conflicting perceptions about human evolution. By implementing integrative learning that combines the angles of the nature of science and religion, it is possible to foster a harmonious understanding of evolution among students.