Kostas Kampourakis
Biographic Data
| ID | 6365290 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kostas Kampourakis |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kostas |
| FAMILY NAME | Kampourakis |
| SIGNATURE | KAMPOURAKIS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Geneva |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0920-2114 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Using Text Mining to Identify Teleological Explanations in Physics and Biology Textbooks
Creating and critiquing explanations of phenomena is a significant goal of many scientific disciplines and therefore also a learning goal of science education. A significant source of explanations is science textbooks; however, the large corpus of text in textbooks means that manual review of explanations by individual researchers is extremely time consuming. In this paper, we introduce a text-mining approach for identifying legitimate and illegi…
The Problems with Genetic Essentialism, Determinism, and Reductionism
In this article, we address misunderstandings about genetic essentialism, genetic determinism, and genetic reductionism. There are good reasons to carefully consider the meanings and relationships that characterize genetic essentialism, genetic determinism, and genetic reductionism; these are different (if related) concepts, despite their superficial resemblances. Although a recent Nature Reviews Genetics article addressed these issues, problems …
Ancestry inferences from DNA testing results
Millions of people have now taken DNA ancestry tests, with many of them looking for information about their origins or even their ethnic identity. However, what these tests can only do is allow for a probabilistic estimate of a person's similarity to a reference group. This is often based on research in population genetics that study human genetic variation by identifying ancestry informative markers, that is, DNA markers that are found more ofte…
Darwin Mythology
A Justification of Legitimate Teleological Explanations in Physics Education
Scientific teleological explanations cite end states as causes to account for physical phenomena. Researchers in science education have noted that students can use teleological explanations in ways that are illegitimate, for example, by implying that inanimate objects are acting intentionally. Despite such cases, several examples of legitimate teleological explanation have been described, and the use of the explanatory form in several contexts in…
“Genes for a role,” “genes as essences”
Biology education research has shown that deeply rooted intuitions can influence students' understanding of biological phenomena. One example is design teleology, the intuition that organisms' traits were designed to fulfill a goal. Another example is psychological essentialism, the intuition that organisms have fixed essences. Past research has found both of these intuitions to be conceptual obstacles for understanding evolution. In our study, w…
Development and validation of a questionnaire measuring secondary students’ genetic essentialism and teleology (GET) conceptions
In this article, we describe the main phases in the development and validation of a questionnaire measuring secondary students’ teleology and essentialism conceptions in the context of genetics. The validation process involved 714 Swiss and French secondary school students from 14 different schools. The process included interviews, several pilot studies, experts’ feedback, and lasted from January 2017 to May 2018. The final version of the test co…
Which question do polls about evolution and belief really ask, and why does it matter
Data from studies conducted to determine acceptance rates for evolution are often misleading. The questions that are asked and compared to one another do not always give an authentic picture of respondents’ views. Quite often, polls, such as those by IPSOS, Gallup, and PEW, also run together questions asking respondents’ beliefs in concepts like God with questions asking respondents’ beliefs about concepts like evolution. The two are distinct and…
Superstition and science
The “general aspects” conceptualization as a pragmatic and effective means to introducing students to nature of science
Teaching about nature of science (NOS) is considered as an important goal of science education in various countries. Extensive empirical research about how some aspects of NOS can be effectively taught is also available. The most widely adopted conceptualization of NOS is based on a small number of general aspects of NOS, which fall into two groups: aspects of the nature of scientific knowledge (NOSK) and aspects of scientific inquiry (SI). This …
Newton's Apple and Other Myths about Science
Ancestry inferences from DNA testing results
Millions of people have now taken DNA ancestry tests, with many of them looking for information about their origins or even their ethnic identity. However, what these tests can only do is allow for a probabilistic estimate of a person's similarity to a reference group. This is often based on research in population genetics that study human genetic variation by identifying ancestry informative markers, that is, DNA markers that are found more ofte…
Newton's Apple and Other Myths about Science
The “general aspects” conceptualization as a pragmatic and effective means to introducing students to nature of science
Teaching about nature of science (NOS) is considered as an important goal of science education in various countries. Extensive empirical research about how some aspects of NOS can be effectively taught is also available. The most widely adopted conceptualization of NOS is based on a small number of general aspects of NOS, which fall into two groups: aspects of the nature of scientific knowledge (NOSK) and aspects of scientific inquiry (SI). This …
Which question do polls about evolution and belief really ask, and why does it matter
Data from studies conducted to determine acceptance rates for evolution are often misleading. The questions that are asked and compared to one another do not always give an authentic picture of respondents’ views. Quite often, polls, such as those by IPSOS, Gallup, and PEW, also run together questions asking respondents’ beliefs in concepts like God with questions asking respondents’ beliefs about concepts like evolution. The two are distinct and…
Superstition and science
Development and validation of a questionnaire measuring secondary students’ genetic essentialism and teleology (GET) conceptions
In this article, we describe the main phases in the development and validation of a questionnaire measuring secondary students’ teleology and essentialism conceptions in the context of genetics. The validation process involved 714 Swiss and French secondary school students from 14 different schools. The process included interviews, several pilot studies, experts’ feedback, and lasted from January 2017 to May 2018. The final version of the test co…
A Justification of Legitimate Teleological Explanations in Physics Education
Scientific teleological explanations cite end states as causes to account for physical phenomena. Researchers in science education have noted that students can use teleological explanations in ways that are illegitimate, for example, by implying that inanimate objects are acting intentionally. Despite such cases, several examples of legitimate teleological explanation have been described, and the use of the explanatory form in several contexts in…
“Genes for a role,” “genes as essences”
Biology education research has shown that deeply rooted intuitions can influence students' understanding of biological phenomena. One example is design teleology, the intuition that organisms' traits were designed to fulfill a goal. Another example is psychological essentialism, the intuition that organisms have fixed essences. Past research has found both of these intuitions to be conceptual obstacles for understanding evolution. In our study, w…
Darwin Mythology
Using Text Mining to Identify Teleological Explanations in Physics and Biology Textbooks
Creating and critiquing explanations of phenomena is a significant goal of many scientific disciplines and therefore also a learning goal of science education. A significant source of explanations is science textbooks; however, the large corpus of text in textbooks means that manual review of explanations by individual researchers is extremely time consuming. In this paper, we introduce a text-mining approach for identifying legitimate and illegi…
The Problems with Genetic Essentialism, Determinism, and Reductionism
In this article, we address misunderstandings about genetic essentialism, genetic determinism, and genetic reductionism. There are good reasons to carefully consider the meanings and relationships that characterize genetic essentialism, genetic determinism, and genetic reductionism; these are different (if related) concepts, despite their superficial resemblances. Although a recent Nature Reviews Genetics article addressed these issues, problems …
Ancestry inferences from DNA testing results
Millions of people have now taken DNA ancestry tests, with many of them looking for information about their origins or even their ethnic identity. However, what these tests can only do is allow for a probabilistic estimate of a person's similarity to a reference group. This is often based on research in population genetics that study human genetic variation by identifying ancestry informative markers, that is, DNA markers that are found more ofte…
Epistemology (9 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Evolution and Science Education (5 works) · Educational Strategies and Epistemologies (4 works) · Essentialism (4 works) · Sociology (4 works) · Teleology (4 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (3 works) · Political science (3 works)