The Current “Synthesis versus Extended Theory of Evolution” Controversy

For several years, Earth and Life Sciences (ELS) curricula in France have emphasized the need for students to "understand the nature of scientific knowledge and its methods of elaboration". This chapter focuses on the Nature of Science (NoS), i.e. in a field of research that deals with the teaching and learning of the idea of science and with the understanding of the practices of production of scientific knowledge. It explores a facet of teacher training that of contemporary scientific controversies. Since the 2000s, a question has been causing agitation in the scientific community in evolutionary biology: should the modern evolutionary synthesis theory be expanded into an extended evolutionary synthesis theory or not? The chapter first discusses the NoS characteristics, and then the characteristics of scientific controversies. Finally, it examines the synthetic versus extensive theory of evolution controversy from the perspective of NoS teacher training.