Good and bad science in US schools

Lerner, Lawrence S.

doi:10.1038/35030204

Cited by 45 publications

(39 citation statements)

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“…Unfortunately K-12 science standards vary widely across the United States (Braden et al 2000;Gross 2005;Lerner 2000;Swanson 2005), and according to a 2009 survey by the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), only 76% of states (including the District of Columbia) received a passing grade (a C or greater) (Mead and Mates 2009). Five states (Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia) received a failing grade for the quality of their science standards because either the treatment of evolution was absent or made defunct due to inclusion of creationist jargon and/or disclaimers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relative importance of religion and education on university students’ views of evolution in the Deep South and state science standards across the United States

2014

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Background: There is a negative relationship between education and religiosity and a positive relationship between education and acceptance of evolution, but how this manifests in college students who differ in degree of religiosity and prior educational experiences is unclear. We focused our study on the relative importance of education and religion on evolution understanding for college students at a large, public university in the Deep South. Methods: We used a structural equation model incorporating both acceptance and knowledge of evolution to evaluate the relative influence of religion and education on evolution understanding of 2,999 surveyed students. We further focused on acceptance of evolution and academic level, college major, high school experience, religion, and religiosity. We conducted pre and post course evaluations in three biology classes, and finally we tested the relationships between the quality of K-12 state science standards and states' religiosity and educational attainment. Results: We found that the degree of religiosity mattered significantly more than education when predicting students' understanding of evolution. When we focused on acceptance of evolution only, students taught evolution or neither evolution nor creationism in high school had significantly higher acceptance than those taught both evolution and creationism or just creationism. Science majors always outscored non-science majors, and not religious students significantly outperformed religious students. Highly religious students were more likely to reject evolution even though they understood that the scientific community accepted the theory of evolution. Overall, students in two of three biology classes increased their acceptance of evolution, but only those students that seldom/never attended religious services improved. K-12 state science standard grades were significantly and negatively correlated with measures of state religiosity and significantly and positively correlated with measures of state educational attainment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relative importance of religion and education on university students’ views of evolution in the Deep South and state science standards across the United States

2014

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“…Yet the likely outgrowth of the textbook sticker approach is that students would be presented with a caricature of evolution. Considering that it is already common that public school teachers avoid evolution or give it cursory treatment because of political pressure and protests from parents, textbook stickers may exacerbate existing problems with science education in public schools (Lerner 2000). It seems reasonable to suggest that if politicians and parents are successful in their attempt to modify the tenets of evolution education in different states, it may just further 'encourage' teachers to bypass evolution altogether so that they do not generate controversy.…”

Section: Promoting Science Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Textbook Stickers: A Reasonable Response to Evolution?

Borenstein

2006

Sci & Educ

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Debates concerning how the issue of human life's origins should be handled within the confines of American public schools still continue. In order to mitigate the impact that evolution has on students, some school boards and state legislatures have recommended that stickers voicing a disclaimer about evolution be placed in biology textbooks. Even though supporters maintain that textbook stickers promote good science, this kind of approach invariably raises the concern that public education might be unduly intertwined with religion. In this article, it is argued that regardless of whether a textbook sticker can pass constitutional scrutiny, the use of such a sticker is a flawed approach to science education.

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“…All such systems -such as the DNA-based systems of recombinational variation released by sex, the proofreading systems involved with DNA replication, and genetic redundancy resulting from genomic turnoverhave surely been influenced willy-nilly by selection to produce an exploitable balance between the eternal contrasting needs of stasis and change 4 .…”

Section: Edgar Dutra Zanottomentioning

confidence: 99%

. . . but yeast prion offers clues about evolution

Lindquist

2000

Nature

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Good and bad science in US schools

Cited by 45 publications

References 0 publications

The relative importance of religion and education on university students’ views of evolution in the Deep South and state science standards across the United States

The relative importance of religion and education on university students’ views of evolution in the Deep South and state science standards across the United States

Textbook Stickers: A Reasonable Response to Evolution?

. . . but yeast prion offers clues about evolution

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