| [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Thread Index] | [Date Prev] | [Date Next] | [Date Index] |
>A Gallup poll late last year showed that only 28 percent of >Americans accept the theory of evolution, while 48 percent adhere to >creationism - the belief that an intelligent being is responsible for the >creation of the earth and its inhabitants. But if reluctance to accept >evolution is not new, the ways in which students are resisting its teachings >are changing. Excuse me, but when will a significant and influential contingent of the education community admit that the simplest explanation for this statistic is that evolution is taught poorly in public schools. >It creates an uncomfortable atmosphere in the >classroom, Williamson says - one that he doesn't >like. "I don't want to ever be in a >confrontational mode with those kids ... I find >it disheartening as a teacher." Wow. A teacher who resists and avoids a spirited (pun intended) dialog with students. Great. >In this climate, science teachers say they must find new methods to defuse >what has become a politically and emotionally charged atmosphere in the >classroom. But in some cases doing so also means learning to handle >well-organized efforts to raise doubts about Darwin's theory. Defuse? When students bring racial prejudice into the classroom, do teachers simply complain about having to deal with the issue, or do they try, through their curriculum, to do something about it? >Critics of evolution are supplying students with prepared questions on such >topics as: >• The origins of life. Why do textbooks claim that the 1953 Miller-Urey >experiment shows how life's building blocks may have formed on Earth - when >conditions on the early Earth were probably nothing like those used in the >experiment, and the origin of life remains a mystery? Most of these questions are bona fide sources of confusion. In some cases the questions are caused by a misunderstanding of scientific statement . At least one simply exposes some hanky panky that is embarrassing and understandably sabotaged the credibility of the conclusions (peppered moths). Given the easy access of enormous amounts of information today, why can't these questions be addressed in a classroom? Bill -- --------------------------------------------------- William P. Chaisson Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Rochester Rochester, NY 14627 607-387-3892
Partial index: