Education Commons^™

Critical Relationships In Managing Students’ Emotional Responses To Science (And Evolution) Instruction, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Bette L. Grauer

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Background

If an instructional environment that is conducive to learning generally requires the development of good student–teacher relationships, then a classroom atmosphere of trust is an especially important consideration when we engage students in the teaching and learning of evolution. Emotional scaffolding, therefore, is crucial to the successful teaching and learning of evolution. Quinlan (Coll Teach 64:101–111, 2016) refers to four key relationships necessary to construct this scaffolding—students with teachers being merely one of the four key relationships comprising a comprehensive emotional scaffolding—the others being students with subject matter, students with other students, and students with their developing selves. Our …

The Nature Of Science As A Foundation For Fostering A Better Understanding Of Evolution, Craig E. Nelson, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Jean Beard, Lawrence I. Flammer

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Misunderstandings of the nature of science (NOS) contribute greatly to resistance to evolutionary theory especially among non-scientific audiences. Here we delineate three extended instructional examples that make extensive use of NOS to establish a foundation upon which to more successfully introduce evolution. Specifically, these instructional examples enable students to consider evolutionary biology using NOS as a lens for interpretation of evolutionary concepts. We have further found, through our respective research efforts and instructional experiences, that a deep understanding of NOS helps students understand and accept the scientific validity of evolution and, conversely, that evolution provides an especially effective context for …

The Use Of Journaling To Assess Student Learning And Acceptance Of Evolutionary Science, Lawrence C. Scharmann, Wilbert Butler Jr.

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Journal writing was introduced as a means to assess student learning and acceptance of evolutionary science in a nonmajors’ biology course taught at a community college. Fourteen weeks of instruction were performed, each initiated by student-centered, in-class activities and culminated by a discussion, to elucidate tentative conclusions based on evidence from in-class activities. Students (N = 31) engaged in explicit and reflective writing (i.e., journaling) at four points during the semester, providing responses to the following questions: (a) what influence did the recent inclass activities and discussion have on your understanding of evolution (b) has your view (of evolution) changed …

Evolution And Personal Religious Belief: Christian University Biology-Related Majors’ Search For Reconciliation, Mark Winslow, John Staver, Lawrence C. Scharmann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The goal of this study was to explore Christian biology-related majors’ perceptions of conflicts between evolution and their religious beliefs. This naturalistic study utilized a case study design of 15 undergraduate biology-related majors at or recent biology-related graduates from a mid-western Christian university. The broad sources of data were interviews, course documents, and observations. Outcomes indicate that most participants were raised to believe in creationism, but came to accept evolution through evaluating evidence for evolution, negotiating the literalness of Genesis, recognizing evolution as a non-salvation issue, and observing professors as Christian role models who accept evolution. This study lends heuristic …