Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Epic Fail: Evolution and Creationism in America's Classrooms

It is no exaggeration to call evolution “the central concept of biology.” So why is the fact of evolution denied by half of our population? A new article in PLoS Biology by Michael Berkman, Julianna Pacheco, and Eric Plutzer suggests it might be on account of their lack of education at the high school level. Since only ~25% of the US population obtains a college degree, it is the duty of high school teachers to provide a proper scientific education to our citizens. Model high school curriculum guidelines provided by the National Science Teachers Association, the National Research Council, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, strongly suggest that teachers “provide evidence that evolution has attained its status as a unifying theme in science.”

However, teachers that don't "believe" in evolution aren't going to teach it in the classroom. In the paper, Berkman et al. describe the results of the polling 939 high school biology teachers. "Roughly one sixth of all teachers professed a “young earth” personal belief, and about one in eight reported that they teach creationism or intelligent design in a positive light. The number of hours devoted to these alternative theories is typically low—but this nevertheless must surely convey to students that these theories should be accorded respect as scientific perspectives."

Why do these teachers fail to contribute proper instruction in evolution? The article suggests, "that high school teachers who completed the largest number of college-level credits in biology and life science classes and whose coursework included at least one class in evolutionary biology devote substantially more class time to evolution than teachers with fewer credit hours. The best prepared teachers devote 60% more time to evolution than the least prepared."

The article concludes that it is incumbent on college educators to provide future high school teachers with a proper education. "Scientists concerned about the quality of evolution instruction might have a bigger impact in the classroom by focusing on the certification standards for high school biology teachers. Our study suggests that requiring all teachers to complete a course in evolutionary biology would have a substantial impact on the emphasis on evolution and its centrality in high school biology courses. In the long run, the impact of such a change could have a more far reaching effect than the victories in courts and in state governments."

7 comments:

  1. Our study suggests that requiring all teachers to complete a course in evolutionary biology would have a substantial impact on the emphasis on evolution and its centrality in high school biology courses. In the long run, the impact of such a change could have a more far reaching effect than the victories in courts and in state governments.

    Nice idea, but what school board in the Bible Belt area would endorse it? As long as US allows public schools to be manipulated by local forces rather than being nationally controlled, this idea doesn't have a chance in reality.

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  2. I am just blown away that science teachers can still endorse creationism or ID without breaking up in laughter...

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  6. It's really worrying...!!!!!

    We're now at the gates of a new obscurantism era, as ignorance easily spreads on the society due to laziness of illustrated people, the worst things could become a reality.

    From wide scattered ignorance, specially democratically speaking, we can spect anything: from extremely bad governments to atomic bombs falling all over our heads.

    That's why our first fight most be against it, all over the world.

    Don't stay with crossed arms...!!!
    We all have to act to stop this powerful self spreading ignorance, beginning with all this ID superstition.

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  7. I keep hoping that Christians everywhere will wake up and notice that ID is also very poor theology. But, when i go to fundamentalist churches (and i have to, for family reasons), they're not interested in my view. For example, when i say that if evolutionary biology didn't work, i'd be literally dead, since removing my gangrenous gall bladder wouldn't have been enough. I had to be put on an antibiotic regimen. Further, i say, i really want young people to be working with science to come up with other wonders that will improve my quality of life and longevity in the future. But this doesn't work. "Smart people have said that ID is right." Feh.

    And i say, well, if you take literal interpretation of the Bible seriously, then you can conclude just about anything. For example, it's OK to murder children in the most horrific ways imaginable, if they happen to be the children of your enemy. That it contradicts the love of God is irrelevant. Nope. "Smart people have said that ID is right". Feh.

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