Evolutionary theory (ET) is the unifying theory of Life Sciences, but it is largely misunderstood and the target of dispute in many countries, mainly because of conflicts with religious beliefs. Brazil is a country with a culture that is deeply rooted belief in God. In this paper, we report a study in Brazil where we applied a 12-question…

Curricula impart knowledge, instill values, and shape collective memory. Despite growing public funding for religious schools through U.S. school choice programs, little is known about what they teach. We examine textbooks from public schools, religious private schools, and home schools, applying computational methods--including AI tools--to…

Evolution understanding is often positively connected with magnitudes of evolution acceptance, whereas religiosity mostly interferes negatively. However, comparisons between studies and countries must be treated cautiously due to the diversity of used instruments and samples. This study aims to generate new evidence concerning the interplay of…

This piece responds to the article by Arif Rachmatullah, Soonhye Park, and Minsu Ha "Crossing borders between science and religion: Muslim Indonesian biology teachers' perceptions of teaching the theory of evolution," in which the authors are among the first researchers to explore the views of Indonesian science teachers regarding…

In the context of the distinction between normative and descriptive approaches to the relationship between science and religion, this article discusses the recent work of the sociologist Elaine Ecklund. It reviews four of her published outputs, summarising her data concerning the views of religious people and professional scientists, including…

Evolution is one of the most controversial scientific issues worldwide, mainly because of the presumed conflict with religion, which also arises in school biology classes. Here, we surveyed biology teachers from different Jewish sectors in Israel about their experiences teaching evolution and their perspective on relating to students' religious…

Teaching the theory of evolution has often faced various challenges, including teachers' internal conflict between the theory of evolution and their personal religious beliefs. This multiple case study examined the perceptions of and approaches to teaching evolution of six Indonesian Muslim biology teachers who were working in three different…

Evolution is often seen as a site of contestation within the school curriculum. The topic of evolution is therefore often considered to be 'controversial'. I first examine what is meant by 'controversial' and conclude that while, in an everyday sense, the topic of evolution can indeed be considered to be controversial, this term can mislead. A…

Indonesia is a religious country that values local wisdom and customs. Although the characteristics of the Indonesian people may provide novel insight into and distinguished views on the theory of evolution by natural selection, few studies have explored how Indonesians view the theory of biological evolution. Thus, this study aimed to examine the…

Although many scientists agree that evolution does not make claims about God/god(s), students might assume that evolution is atheistic, and this may lead to lower evolution acceptance. In study 1, we surveyed 1081 college biology students at one university about their religiosity and evolution acceptance and asked what religious ideas someone…

Curricula impart knowledge, instill values, and shape collective memory. Despite growing public funding for religious schools through U.S. school choice programs, little is known about what they teach. We examine textbooks from public schools, religious private schools, and home schools, applying computational methods -- including the use of…

Research examining the relationship between science and religion has often painted a narrative of conflict for students with various religious beliefs. The purpose of this paper is to present a counter-narrative based on a study carried out in Singapore, which provides a unique multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment and geopolitical context…

Seventy-two Internet documents promoting creationism, intelligent design (I.D.), or evolution were selected for analysis. The primary goal of each of the 72 documents was to present arguments for creationism, I.D., or evolution. We first identified all arguments in these documents. Each argument was then coded in terms of both argument type…

Low acceptance of evolution among undergraduate students is common and is best predicted by religious beliefs. Decreasing students' perceived conflict between religion and evolution could increase their acceptance of evolution. However, college biology instructors may struggle with trying to decrease students' perceived conflict between religion…

In this manuscript, three science educators describe strategies used to effectively communicate about religiously and culturally sensitive science content and share lessons learned from their experiences. Mark A. Bloom (2019-2021 Fellow) describes the challenges he overcame in teaching climate change science at an evangelical university by…