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Jennie

We prepare our floor staff Explainers to deal with difficult visitos by
having them first pointing out that this is a science museum and we deal
with science and not belief and suggesting that the visitors are welcome to
their beliefs. If the visitors persist we suggest the Explainers not argue
but that they offer to get someone higher up to discuss the issue and last
resort is to retreat to the bathroom. We really have not had much trouble in
NY. Though I am not sure that museum experiences are relevant to the
classroom. I think you have to be a strong teacher to deal with students who
are primed with questions but I suspect there are ways of dealing with this
especially if there is strong administrative support to deal with students
and parents.

Martin

On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 2:32 PM, Jennie Dusheck <[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 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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-- 
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Martin Weiss, PhD
Science Interpretation, Consultant
New York Hall of Science
mweiss at nyscience.org
347-460-1858

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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

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