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The National Center for Science Education website has a page of answers to these questions: http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/ 7719_responses_to_jonathan_wells3_11_28_2001.asp On May 4, 2005, at 7:37 AM, Styzen, Michael MJ SIEP-EPT-SCHS wrote: > We now have the ten canned questions. Why don't we put out ten good > canned answers? I'm sure biology teachers would appreciate it. > > -----Original Message----- > From: paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk [mailto:paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk]On > Behalf Of Nikolaus Malchus > Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 5:53 AM > To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk > Subject: Re: paleonet Questions to Ask Your Biology Professor > > > Hi, > > In the line of Tom deVrie, I think we have to adopt new and > complementary > teaching strategies. > > This is the short message. Now, I also think that creationist or any > antievolutionary concept has become a fashion in US (especially). One > of the > causes, I guess, is that opposition is an innate and strong emotion > during > youth (didn't we oppose?). Creationism and alike is a beautiful > (non-violent) way to question established "dogmata", here of > evolution. And > how they succeed. We are embarrassed. How (for heaven's sake, ;-)) > could > anybody possibly reject all the evidence of evolution we have gathered > over > the past centuries? We are not used to that anybody questions our > authority > on evolution issues and less so if it is done in such a provocative > way. > > I think we do better taking this as a challenge rather than an affront > and > try to find answers to their "unscientific" questions. > Perhaps we should teach logic before letting students make their > hands-on > experiments and then discuss the results. Of course, for young pupils > one > would need experiments they can understand without a theoretical > background. > Parents of young children are challenged every day. There are ways to > satisfy their curiousity in school. > > Cheers, > > Niko > > >> I'd like to respond to Dr. Chaisson's comments regarding the teaching >> of >> evolution in public (and private) schools. My background: a Ph.D. in >> paleontology, >> a continuing history of research and publication, and teaching in a >> public >> high school, 1992 to the present. >> >> 1. Simplest explanations are, despite the attractiveness of Occam's >> Razor, >> not always best when applied to human behavior. >> >> a. 'Admit' is an inflammatory word, implying deception. I don't think >> the >> 'educational community' is engaged in a conspiracy to deceive the >> scientific >> community or public about the teaching of evolution. >> >> b. Are teachers guilty of poor teaching when it comes to evolution, in >> content or pedagogy, or are they guilty of devoting too little time >> to the >> concept? >> Very different questions, with different causes and solutions. >> >> c. Before Dr. Chaisson too readily dismisses the corps of US biology >> teachers >> as advocates for evolution, he should remember that under the best of >> circumstances, the typical biology teacher will have no more >> background in >> evolution >> than what is taught in a standard undergraduate biology curriculum. >> How >> well >> is evolution covered in college Introductory Biology? How many >> undergraduate >> biology majors are required to take a course in Evolutionary Biology? >> How >> many >> undergraduate biology majors have hands-on experience conducting >> their own >> scientific research? How many understand the distinction between >> experimental and >> historical science? How many biology majors are required to take a >> course >> in >> historical geology or paleontology? >> >> d. High school science teachers look for opportunities to advance >> their >> understanding through summer workshops. For oceanography, molecular >> biology, >> chemistry, and physics, well-funded workshops or internships are easy >> to >> find. How >> many summer institutes in paleontology and evolutionary biology >> exist? Do >> they >> offer stipends to teachers, whose beginning annual salaries of >> $28K-$35K >> are >> substantially less than those enjoyed by college professors? >> >> 2. Dr. Chaisson's incredulous response regarding classroom >> confrontation >> reveals a fundamental misunderstanding about the difference between >> instructing >> 14- and 15-year olds (typically, those who take high school biology) >> and >> 18- and >> 19-year olds (typically, those who take college biology). Most young >> teenagers are not ready for intellectual confrontation; the process >> needs >> to be >> taught, gently. The fruits of confrontation in a 9th- or 10th-grade >> classroom are >> not likely to be a spirited engagement, or even active resistance, but >> rather, >> retreat and intellectual withdrawal. The students, after all, are >> children, >> only two or three years out of the sandbox. Spirited dialog is a >> luxury of >> the >> college classroom; it presupposes some degree of intellectual and >> informational >> equality. That doesn't exist with young teenagers. >> >> 3. In cases of racial prejudice, bullying, or other unacceptable >> behavior >> in >> the classroom, teachers respond as they have been trained, with the >> full >> support of the school's administration and board of education. In >> extreme >> cases, >> the power of law enforcement can be brought into play. The incentive >> to >> correct >> such behavior is both moral and a practical matter of classroom >> management. >> >> a. Are college biology majors, particularly those bound for teaching >> jobs, >> formally taught how to deal with the clash between Christian >> fundamentalism and >> the tenets of Darwinian evolution? Are they presented with strategies >> for >> coping with ill-informed challenges from children? From parents? From >> school >> administrators? From school boards? From communities? From state >> boards of >> education? If these topics are not addressed in a college curriculum, >> you >> can hardly >> expect more than hit-and-miss success when teachers take on these >> challenges >> without training. >> ******************** >> >> Rather than dumping the blame for inadequate instruction in evolution >> on >> the >> backs of high school teachers, I suggest that the professional >> 'evolution' >> community - biology professors, paleontology professors, and any >> others >> who fit >> the bill - take some concrete steps to place your expertise in the >> K-12 >> classroom. >> >> 1. If you have an education program in your university, make it a >> priority >> to >> offer a curricular unit on evolution, ID, and strategies for >> addressing >> controversy for students across a wide range of ages. What works for >> 10-year-olds >> won't work for 15-year olds. >> >> 2. Put together some summer institutes for teachers, with stipends. >> Put >> the >> teachers in the field. Pay them to dig for dinosaurs in Montana or >> whales >> in >> Peru. Follow up during the following school year. Offer additional >> services. >> >> 3. Put some professional scientists on the road. Have some 1-3 day >> conferences for teachers in Wichita, Omaha, Knoxville, Atlanta, San >> Francisco, Seattle, >> and Boston. Choose a nice hotel conference room. Feed them lunch. >> Teach, >> and >> listen. >> >> 4. Mass mail biology teachers with offers of curricular materials, web >> resources, and speakers. Much of the mail will be tossed, but some >> will be >> kept. >> >> 5. Use your influence and the influence of your educational >> institutions, >> especially state flagship universities and their presidents, to >> affect the >> thinking of state-level and federal-level government officials. >> Persuade >> these >> officials to take fundamentalist Christian religion out of the >> business of >> biology >> instruction. That seems a task commensurate with teaching posts in >> higher >> education. You can hardly expect most biology teachers to fight it >> out in >> the >> trenches when the education generals and civilian leaders have >> abandoned >> the >> field. >> >> Tom DeVries >> Science Teacher >> Vashon Island High School >> Vashon, WA >> >> Thomas J. DeVries, Ph.D., M.A.T. >> Adjunct Research Associate >> Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture >> University of Washington >> Seattle, WA >> > > -- > __________________________________ > > Nikolaus Malchus > > PhD (Geology) > Ramón y Cajal researcher (RyC 1) > > Dept. de Geologia/Unitat Paleontologia > Universitat Auṭnoma de Barcelona > Campus, Edifici Cs > 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès) > Catalonia, SPAIN > > Tel 34-93-581-1464 > Fax 34-93-581-1263 > Regular Fax to my e-mail box: > x49-(0)89-1488-192-992 > > nikolaus.malchus@uab.es (< 2 MB) > n.malchus@gmx.net (> 2 MB) > ____________________________________ > > > > > > Dr. Danita Brandt Department of Geological Sciences Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824 brandt@msu.edu
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