Hearts and minds in the science classroom: The education of a confirmed evolutionist

Abstract

This study traces a heuristic inquiry process from the point of view of a science educator, from a secular-humanist background in the northern United States, attempting to better understand and appreciate a major aspect of religious-influenced culture in the southern United States which has a major bearing on science education in the region. The intellectual and emotional viewpoints of selected scientists, science educators, science teachers, and prospective science teachers are examined regarding the relationship between their orthodox Christian religious beliefs and biological evolutionary theory. We view the prospect of teaching evolution to students with such a religious commitment as a prime example of the severe limitations of cognitively-oriented conceptual change theory. We also view conflicts between religion and science regarding evolution as a bona fide example of a multicultural issue in education. These theoretical perspectives are inconsistent with the common tendency among science professionals to view or treat orthodox Christian students in a manner unconscionable with others-to disrespect their intellect or belittle their motivations, to offer judgments based on stereotypes and prejudices, to ignore threats to personal selfesteem, or to deny the de facto connection of some scientific conceptions to the morals, attitudes, and values of individuals with such religious commitments.

Relationship between achievement and students' acceptance of evolution or creation in an upper‐level evolution course

“…During learning groups, students engaged in various critical thinking exercises, such as comparing hominoid skulls, simulating population genetics dynamics, evaluating different religious and scientific conceptions of the evolution/creation controversy, and constructing phylogenies from molecular sequences. We emphasized the compassionate analysis of the perceived conflict between evolution and some religious beliefs, mostly during class discussions of pertinent readings (consistent with the recommendations of Jackson, Doster, Meadows, & Wood, 1995;Nelson, 2000, and others cited therein). A student's final grade in the course was based on learning-group participation and grades from three exams, occasional quizzes, and learning-group worksheets.…”

“…One explanation for this finding is that students may hesitate to selfidentify as evolutionists. Other researchers note that scientists who accept evolution are sometimes considered atheistic or amoral by people not accepting evolution (Brem et al, 2003;Jackson et al, 1995). Students, and others, may believe that accepting evolution necessarily means that they reject God.…”

“…A second explanation for the discrepancy among responses is that students may respond in an evolutionarily consistent manner to most statements, yet accept the creation statement in an attempt to maintain religious self-identification. As in Jackson et al (1995), we recognize that students can accept both a creationist view of origins and an evolutionarily consistent view of the rest of biology. Although instructors may consider students holding such inconsistent views to be lacking in critical thinking ability, these somewhat creationist students instead may be exhibiting developmental advancement in their demonstration of learning despite preexisting or long-standing rejection of the content of the course, and may be paralleling or copying more sophisticated theological stances (see Nelson, 1986Nelson, , 2000.…”

“…According to McKeachie et al (2002), students must experience cognitive dissonance in a course that challenges their fundamental beliefs or attitudes, possibly resulting in lower achievement. For students not experiencing conflict regarding evolution, whether they accept or reject the theory, their acceptance may be rote or influenced by an authority figure, rather than carefully reasoned or fully developed (Jackson et al, 1995;Lawson & Weser, 1990). Regardless of the explanation, some students accept creation even after a semester-long course in evolution.…”

Development and evaluation of the conceptual inventory of natural selection

“…The Platonic attitudes that prevailed among the population 100 years ago (Mayr, 1982) persist in many quarters today (Almquist & Cronin, 1988;Greene, 1990;Jackson, Doster, Meadows, & Wood, 1995). Alternative conceptions about evolution exist even among the well-educated, including medical students (Brumby, 1984) and physics doctoral students (Chan, 1998).…”