Journal ArticleDOI
Foundational issues in evolution education
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TLDR
In this article, the distinction between science and non-science is discussed, focusing on the difference between religious belief and acceptance of a scientific theory, and a number of practical recommendations to the classroom biology teacher are presented.Abstract:
There is a great need for effective evolution education. This paper reviews some of the evidence that demonstrates that need and analyzes some of the foundational semantic, epistemological, and philosophical issues involved. This analysis is used to provide a functional understanding of the distinction between science and non-science. Special emphasis is placed the scientific meaning of the terms theory, hypothesis, fact, proof, evidence, and truth, focusing on the difference between religious belief and acceptance of a scientific theory. Science is viewed as theologically neutral and as not mutually exclusive from religion. Finally, a number of practical recommendations to the classroom biology teacher are presented.read more
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Intentions and beliefs in students' understanding and acceptance of biological evolution
TL;DR: This article examined the intersection of students' understanding and acceptance of evolution and their epistemological beliefs and cognitive dispositions, and found that students who viewed knowledge as changing and who have a disposition toward open-minded thinking would be more likely to accept the scientific explanation of human evolution, and that beliefs and dispositions would not be related to acceptance of a topic that is generally perceived as noncontroversial.
Journal ArticleDOI
Defining versus describing the nature of science: A pragmatic analysis for classroom teachers and science educators
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that most precollege teachers should attempt to teach students how to use these descriptors to judge the relative merits of knowledge claims instead of teaching a set of rules that attempt to demarcate science completely from nonscience.
Journal ArticleDOI
A modeling approach to teaching evolutionary biology in high schools
TL;DR: The authors describe the commitments and research that went into the design of a 9-week high school course in evolutionary biology, which was designed to bring students to an understanding of the practice of evolutionary biology by engaging them in developing, elaborating, and using one of the discipline's most important explanatory models.
Journal ArticleDOI
Exploring the factors related to acceptance of evolutionary theory among Turkish preservice biology teachers: Toward a more informative conceptual ecology for biological evolution
TL;DR: The findings indicate that studying a controversial issue such as acceptance of evolutionary theory in a multivariate fashion, using conceptual ecology as a theoretical lens to interpret the findings is informative and suggests the inclusion of thinking dispositions in conceptual ecology for biological evolution.
Journal ArticleDOI
Belief, Knowledge, and Science Education
TL;DR: In this article, the distinctions drawn between knowledge and belief in both philosophy and educational psychology have shaped the various definitions employed within science education, including the traditional distinctions of the foundationalists, the non-foundational epistemology of the fallibilists and the evolution educators working from this framework, and the radical constructivists who react to and attempt to move past the limitations of these other positions.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
A nation at risk: the imperative for educational reform
TL;DR: Because of the extraordinary clarity and importance of the Commission's Report, the editors of the Communica t ions decided to reprint the Report's main section in its entirety and present it to you here.
The structure of scientific revolutions
TL;DR: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as mentioned in this paper is a seminal work in the history of science and philosophy of science, and it has been widely cited as a major source of inspiration for the present generation of scientists.
Book
The Blind Watchmaker
TL;DR: A brilliant and controversial book which demonstrates that evolution by natural selection is the only answer to the biggest question of all: why do the authors exist.
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