According to a study recently conducted at the University of Minnesota, college students’ views on issues like creationism are often shaped by what they are taught in high school biology class.
The study, published in the May issue of Bioscience, (the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences), surveyed 1,000 college students, all of whom were taking introductory biology classes at the University of Minnesota.
The purpose of the study was to learn about how biology majors viewed evolution, as compared to those students were not biology majors. What Randy Moore and Sehoya Cotner, the authors of the study, and professors at College of Biological Sciences, found was that the groups in question had parallel views on creationism and evolution.
The study’s conclusion ultimately reasons that students whose high school biology class included creationism--regardless of whether or not evolution was taught side-by-side-- were more likely to accept creationist views they entered college.
At the same time, students exposed to evolutionism--but not creationism--were more likely to accept evolution as they entered into introductory biology classes.
Regarding how those results translate into numbers, the study reported that between 72 to 78 percent of students exposed to evolution thought that the theory was scientifically valid, whereas 57 to 59 percent of students whose classes included creationism said that evolution can be validated.
Additionally, the study’s results reported that, of all the student’s surveyed, the college students reported that only 1 to 2 percent of classes covered creationism and not evolution.
Remarkably, only 6 to 13 percent of biology classes did not cover evolution or creationism. However, the study reported that 29 percent of majors, and 21 percent of non-majors, reported that their high school biology class covered both subjects.
About the results, lead author Randy Moore was quoted by Science Daily as saying that, while it’s been well-established that some biology classes have been teaching creationism along side evolution, he nonetheless thought it was “unfortunate that so many teachers think their religious beliefs are science. Teachers who don’t teach evolution deny students the understanding of one of the greatest principles in history.”
Similarly, Sehoya Cotner, co-author and associate professor of biology, said, according to Science Daily that she was surprised that weren’t bigger differences between majors and non-majors, and that she thought the results of the study were indicative of the fact “that these students are probably interested in biology for reasons besides gaining a full understanding and appreciation of the science.”
In addition to the study’s current results, Cotner and Moore included a review of previous studies in attempt to find out why so many high school biology teachers were teaching creationism.
What the review found was that 25 percent of biology teachers simply didn’t know that teaching creationism was unconstitutional. (Though the court also ruled that “alternative scientific theories” could be taught). One third of teachers didn’t major in biology in college, nor did they study evolution. And finally, one-fourth of teachers believe that creationism can be proven scientifically.
For more about the study, go here.
Our Take
The results of this study are really compelling, particularly about how teachers themselves did not major in biology. Actually, I think that creationism should be taught in schools, but that it should be taught as a philosophy, not as a science.
Simply put, religion is about faith, and science is about hypotheses, research, and peer review. That isn’t to say that religion can be subjected to those things; rather, I’m suggesting that religion can go beyond them. Creationism is a theory about the origins of the earth. So is evolution. The difference is that one is easier to subject to the scientific method than the other. Study creationism, sure--but not in a science class.
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