Teaching and Communicating Controversial Topics in Science:

Ongoing Challenges & Opportunities

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIESNational Academy of Sciences

National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine

National Research Council

Jay Labov National Academy of Sciences

Washington, DC

jlabov@nas.edu http://nationalacademies.org

• Evidence supporting evolution– Necessary but not sufficient

• Recognizing Misconceptions

• Understanding Students’ Perspectives– Helping Students Understand and Appreciate

the Nature, Processes, and Limits of Science

What Should We Do to Teach About Evolution?

Major Misconceptions• Evolution is a theory about the origin of life.• Evolution is like a climb up a ladder of progress; organisms are

always getting better.• Evolution means that life changed ‘by chance’ (i.e., through strictly

random processes.• Natural selection involves organisms ‘trying’ to adapt.”• Natural selection gives organisms what they ‘need,’ i.e., evolution

is purposeful. • Evolution means struggle in ‘tooth and claw’• Evolution has happened in the past but is no longer taking place.• Other organisms may have evolved, but not humans.• Gaps in the fossil record ‘disprove’ evolution.• Evolution is not science because it is not observable or testable• Evolution is ‘just a theory’ and a ‘theory in crisis’ at that.• Many scientists have rejected evolution as an explanation. • Scientists won’t admit to the public that evolution cannot explain

biodiversity.

Understanding Students’ and the Public’s Perceptions about

Evolution

http://nap.edu/sec

AudiencesAudiencesOpinion Leaders and Opinion Leaders and

“Influentials” “Influentials”

- K-12 and Postsecondary Science Faculty

- School Board Members and Other Education Leaders

- Local, State & National Policy Makers

- Business leaders- Religious leaders - Medical professionals- Lawyers & Judges - Scientists

•To determine which messages have the most impact in terms of clarifying why Intelligent Design/ Creationism should not be taught in public school science classrooms.

•To assess reactions to Science, Evolution and Creationism, and the companion summary brochure.

Audience Research Audience Research

Audience Research Audience Research

Methodology•Focus Groups

•Columbia SC

•Fort Wayne IN

•Telephone Survey

•In-depth Interviews

•Web Survey

Strongest messages in both rounds of research

•Invoke the role of evolution in making advances in medicine and curing diseases•The compatibility of religious faith and acceptance of evolution•One’s personal religious viewpoints should not be imposed on public school students

Audience Research Audience Research Selected Findings

A key framing pointScience class should help students to understand how science works and how scientists do their jobs. Evolution is a core scientific principle that is foundational to many areas of science and helps scientists make technological developments, like curing disease.

Addressing these Issues in the Classroom

Glossary of Terms Used inTeaching About the Nature of Science

• Fact: In science, an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed.

• Law: A descriptive generalization about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated circumstances.

• Hypothesis: A testable statement about the natural world that can be used to build more complex inferences and explanations.

• Theory: In science, a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses.

http://www.uncw.edu/cte/et/articles/Vol9_2/index.htm

http://www.springerlink.com/content/120878/

Website: http://ncseweb.org

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/

Evolutionary Resources from Evolutionary Resources from the National Academy of Sciencesthe National Academy of Sciences

http://nationalacademies.org/evolution