UAB professor's book promises solution for teaching evolution without conflict
September 30, 2009University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Associate Professor Lee Meadows, Ph.D., is author of a new book that claims it's possible to teach evolution without offending students who have strong religious convictions against the theory.
In his book, The Missing Link: An Inquiry Approach for Teaching All Students About Evolution, Meadows, a Christian and science educator, writes: "For too long evolution has been denied its place in science curriculum. School policies driven by misunderstanding and fear regularly displace widely recognized principles of science. But without understanding evolution, students — no matter what their religious beliefs — will never achieve the level of scientific literacy they need to make sense of even everyday practicalities such as how human viruses work."
School districts, politicians and church leaders have debated for decades as to whether Charles Darwin's theory of evolution should be taught in schools. Educators who have taught evolution often have come under attack by students, parents and local religious leaders. As a result, many teachers today have resorted to one of two extremes to avoid arguments over the validity of evolution, says Meadows, who teaches in the UAB School of Education Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
This video is not supported by your browser at this time.
UAB Associate Professor of Education Lee Meadows discusses his new book "The Missing Link." Credit: University of Alabama at Birmingham
"They either tell students 'check your religion at the door,' or they don't teach evolution at all," Meadows says. "This book attempts to take a middle-of-the road approach."Rather than trying to convince students of the legitimacy of evolution, Meadows says, teachers should encourage students to examine the scientific evidence for evolution for themselves and guide them in exploring the scientific explanations for that evidence. This can include visits to science Web sites such as the Tree of Life Web Project and reading articles about past and recent scientific discoveries that offer evidence of evolution. Explaining to students the process by which scientists arrive at certain conclusions also should be a part of the science curriculum, Meadows says.
"Children have to understand evolution," he says, "but they don't have to believe it, and that is the key distinction that I have laid out in the book. So if a child asks if God made the whale, it's really an opportunity to talk about natural and supernatural explanations. You are not saying that one is better than the other, only that science is limited to natural explanations."
The book contains overviews of the theory of evolution and inquiry-based science teaching, lesson plans and a list of various Internet resources that educators can use in the classroom.
-
Guides for teaching evolution
Apr 01, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Book: Evolution, religion are compatible
Jan 05, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Teaching Biology Means Teaching Evolution
Dec 11, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study: High school teachers influence student views of evolution, creationism
May 01, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Utah House rejects evolution measure
Feb 28, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Can I forget a language?
Feb 10, 2012
-
The Biggest Lie Ever
Feb 09, 2012
-
What are the limits of learning?
Feb 06, 2012
-
Isn't that grammatically wrong?
Feb 06, 2012
-
What does it mean when traders are indifferent?
Feb 04, 2012
-
Peak of Our Civilization
Feb 04, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Social Sciences
More news stories
A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Michael Stumpf a mathematics professor at Imperial College in London, and Mason Porter a lecturer at Oxford have teamed together to write and publish a perspective piece in Science regarding the in ...
Employers feel no love for unscrupulous practice of 'service sweethearting'
A new study led by two Florida State University marketing professors finds that some frontline service employees who are rewarded for hikes in customer loyalty and satisfaction also may engage in "service ...
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
Feb 10, 2012 |
3.3 / 5 (3) |
11
US workers are 'giving away the store,' costing firms billions
Nearly 70 percent of the nation's service employees give away free goods and services from hamburgers to cable TV costing companies billions of dollars a year, according to a groundbreaking study.
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
Feb 09, 2012 |
3.5 / 5 (4) |
10
New insights into how to correct false knowledge
The abundance of false information available on the Internet, in movies and on TV has created a big challenge for educators.
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Feb 07, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
9
|
Neanderthal demise due to many influences, including cultural changes: study
As an ice age crept upon them thousands of years ago, Neanderthals and modern human ancestors expanded their territory ranges across Asia and Europe to adapt to the changing environment.
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Feb 07, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (5) |
8
|
Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor
(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
Latin America mining boom clashes with conservation
Latin America is experiencing a mining boom as prices rise fuelled by a hike in global demand, but the region is also being hit by a wave of violent protests, strikes and rallies by environmentalists.
Love a click away in Indonesia's Twitter Republic
He was a geeky kid from Yogyakarta, she a glamorous city girl in Jakarta. In a country with one of the world's most vibrant social networking scenes they fell in love on Twitter.
Europeans protest controversial Internet pact
Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.
Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...
Oct 01, 2009
Rank: not rated yet
Oct 06, 2009
Rank: not rated yet