A biologia evolutiva no Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) de 2019 a 2024

Abstract

Evolutionary Biology is a unifying axis of Biology and has direct implications for Science education, but its approach in the National High School Exam (ENEM) remains unexplored in the academic literature. This study investigates which topics on biological evolution are required of students in the ENEM Biology questions and whether their approach is consistent with the academic literature on Evolutionary Biology. It is based on the Theory of Evolution, the ENEM Reference Matrix, and principles of educational assessment. The documentar analysis covered 495 questions from the area of Natural Sciences between 2019 and 2024, of which 172 belong to the subject of Biology and 18 address Evolutionary Biology. The results reveal the centrality of the concept of adaptation in the exam, as part of the topic "Evolution and anatomical and physiological patterns observed in living beings". However, the mechanisms that produce adaptations are not addressed. There are repeated questions on the adaptations that favored the conquest of the terrestrial environment by angiosperms. Another frequent theme is allopatric speciation, which is covered in the topic "Genetic aspects of the formation and maintenance of biodiversity". On the other hand, during the six years in which ENEM has been applied and re-applied, there has been no question on human evolution and geological time, no question on evolutionary theories prior to Darwin's theory. In fact, the topic of "pre-Darwinian explanations for the modification of species", such as the theory of Lamarck and Buffon, is ignored in the Brazilian national exam. The presence of questions related to habitat fragmentation and biodiversity conservation suggests an attempt to explain the implications of evolutionary biology studies for biodiversity conservation strategies. To improve the teaching of evolution, we recommend diversifying the topics assessed, better integrating them with molecular genetics and increasing the frequency of questions on phylogenetic interpretation. The study provides support for a more balanced assessment of Evolutionary Biology in ENEM.