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There is on problem with what you wrote William, without evolution biology
is a collection of 'facts" and organisms with no way of interpreting our
natural world.  I suspect, but I maybe wrong, you can teach the physical
world without the "big bang". Maybe not.

Martin

On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 3:25 PM, William Katzman <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> I think everyone may be missing one more reason why teachers don't always
> teach with the word evolution.  Imagine your students have been taught that
> the word evolution is sacrilege or possibly even a slur.  Well, as a biology
> teacher then I I have a decision to make - do I use it and risk alienating
> some students, or do I avoid the word (and admittedly possibly the concept),
> and concentrate on areas where I believe I can make advances?
>
> Every time we teach something we have three decisions to make:  1) What are
> the most vital things to teach.  2) How do you teach it.  3) What are the
> things we should leave out.
> Every time you teach one item, you are always making a decision to leave
> something out.  With certain terms, (evolution, big bang), I have actually
> seen the concepts (or peripheral concepts) taught where teachers avoided the
> specific terms because of perceived audience reaction.  So people teach
> adaptation without mentioning that this is essentially evolution's basis.
>  On the other hand I have also known a biology major and one-time head of an
> science museum's education dept. who was a staunch fundamentalist that did
> not believe in cross-species evolution.
>
> As a former physics teacher, I actually encouraged people to doubt things -
> including Newton's Laws.  However I cautioned that until they could come up
> with a better idea that explained nature, they would still have to learn the
> "state of the art."
>
> -William
>
>
>
> On Feb 10, 2011, at 1:32 PM, Jennie Dusheck wrote:
>
> > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> >
> *****************************************************************************
> >
> > I am late to this discussion because I have been busy writing parts of an
> introductory college biology textbook, including some passages about
> evolution.
> >
> > I am not surprised that so many high school biology teachers are
> unwilling or unable to wade into the thick of things and teach evolution as
> it should be taught. Many teachers are terribly afraid of conflict over
> evolution. It's partly poor preparation (they don't have the background to
> argue with committed creationist students) and partly that teachers aren't
> paid well enough for us to expect them to go out of their way to dive into a
> conflict they can so easily avoid.
> >
> > I'll give an example: A friend of mine was exploring the Smithsonian
> exhibits relevant to evolution when she was confronted and actually cornered
> by a family of creationists who engaged her and then attempted to persuade
> her that evolution was wrong. She says she argued with them until she was
> close to tears. And that was only for 45 minutes or so. What if a teacher
> with less education than my friend (masters in biochemistry) had to deal
> with that for days on end?
> >
> > As far as the poor preparation, I disagree with Randy Moore, who was
> quoted at the end of the New York Times piece as saying that teachers are
> well prepared but just reject what they have been taught. First of all, some
> biology teachers were taught biology at Christian colleges that teach
> creationism. You can major in biology at Oral Roberts University and go on
> to become a biology teacher. Such teachers are not rejecting what they were
> taught.
> >
> > Even the majority of teachers who go to secular colleges and universities
> don't necessarily get a good grounding in evolutionary biology. Most biology
> majors today specialize in cell and molecular biology and the won't get much
> more exposure to evolution than what's in the handful of chapters in a
> single introductory textbook. Although many of these introductory textbooks
> are excellent on the subject of evolution, far too many emphasize molecular
> level material such as antibiotic resistant bacteria, while skimming over
> the history of life on earth and the speciation of familar plants and
> animals. Basically, macroevolution is treated as an abstraction.
> >
> > As an aside, a large proportion of college students who study the life
> sciences are in pre health and medicine programs, which, with a few
> exceptions, de-emphasize evolution. Of the many anatomy and physiology
> textbooks in use, I know of only one that even mentions that the human body
> is the product of evolution. Most A&P publishers/authors are too afraid of
> losing market share to take a functional, evolutionary approach.
> >
> > Anyway, to return to my point. I think that the idea that antibiotic
> resistance is an adequate explanation for the evolution of whole new species
> of beetles, let alone humans, is unpersuasive to large numbers of moderately
> rational people. Creationists quite rightly argue that the ability of
> bacteria with some specific genes to out compete bacteria lacking those
> genes  is not by itself a persuasive explanation for the appearance of
> elephants or great white sharks. Inadequate preparation in evolutionary
> biology leaves even successful cell and molecular biology trained teachers
> vulnerable to  arguments that create doubt and confusion in their minds
> about what they have been taught. Coupled with the lack of support they get
> from the rest of the high school, why should they become enmeshed in tense
> and unsatisfactory arguments  about this topic with their students? Hats off
> to the 28%!
> >
> > My own current favorite biology textbook is Sadava, 9th edition.
> >
> > Jennie Dusheck
> > Co-author, Asking About Life, a college biology textbook
> >
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> William Katzman
> Program Leader
> LIGO Science Education Center
> "Inspiring Science"
> [log in to unmask]
> (225) 686-3134
>
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-- 
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Martin Weiss, PhD
Science Interpretation, Consultant
New York Hall of Science
mweiss at nyscience.org
347-460-1858

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