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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"
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(225) 686-3134

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