This study examined age differences in young people's understanding of evolution theory in secondary school. A second aim of this study was to propose a new coding scheme that more accurately described students' conceptual understanding about evolutionary theory. We argue that coding schemes adopted in previous research may have overestimated…

Darwinian evolution is difficult to understand because of conceptual barriers stemming from intuitive ideas. This study examined understanding of evolution in 52 students (M = 14.48 years, SD = 0.89) before and after a guided field trip to a natural history museum and in a comparison group of 18 students (M = 14.17 years, SD = 0.79) who did not…

I start by considering some of the similarities between journalists and science teachers in their work and then go on to examine three questions that are of importance in dealing with creationism in schools: Is the issue one that is worth dealing with? How might one deal with it? What does one hope to achieve by dealing with it? I conclude that…

Faculty have long expressed concern about pseudoscience belief among students. Most US research on such beliefs examines evolution-creation issues among liberal arts students, the general public, and occasionally science educators. Because of their future influence on youth, we examined basic science knowledge and several pseudoscience beliefs…

Despite considerable focus on evolution knowledge-belief relationships, little research has targeted populations with strong content backgrounds, such as undergraduate degrees in biology. This study (1) measured precertified biology and non-biology teachers' (n = 167) knowledge of evolution and the nature of science; (2) quantified teacher…

Outlines the creation-science perspective and reasons the author considers it superior to the evolutionist point of view. Argues for a balanced approach in school curricula. (Author/WD)

Spurred by students who felt conflicted accepting evolution and the tenets of their faiths, yet knowing their faiths supported science and evolution, we began a study to determine the views clergy espouse on issues related to evolution, creationism, science, and religion. The resulting study included structured interviews with eight clergy and a…

Asks secondary students to compare the real Scopes trial to the fictionalized version presented in the movie "Inherit the Wind," with their textbook and Web site versions. Intends for students to learn about key facts, arguments, and outcomes of the trial and to understand significant individuals' impacts on the trial's events and…