by Tobin, Kenneth

DOI: 10.1007/s11422-010-9254-x
Online Date: 1/20/2010
View article on SpringerLink

by Settelmaier, Elisabeth

In this paper I respond to Long’s paper in which he uses an ethnographic snapshot of a rally of scientists against the perceived ‘dumbing down’ effect of the new Answers in Genesis Museum in Kentucky to raise educational concerns about the effects of creationist influence on the science curriculum in American schools. In my response I contextualise the conflict between creationists and evolutionists in the history of the Christian Churches and in my own personal history. Furthermore I illustrate how historically there been multiple versions and interpretations of the creation story in the past resulting in much conflict and angst. Finally I suggest an integral perspective that allows us to envisage a curriculum that presents multiple perspectives to students as a possible alternative to epistemological narrow-mindedness.

DOI: 10.1007/s11422-009-9250-1
Online Date: 1/14/2010
View article on SpringerLink

by Alexakos, Konstantinos

In his article Scientists at Play in a Field of the Lord, David Long (2010) rightly challenges our presumptions of what science is and brings forth some of the disjunctures between science and deeply held American religious beliefs. Reading his narrative of the conflicts that he experienced on the opening day of the Creation Museum, I cannot help but reconsider what the epistemology of science is and science learning ought to be. Rather than science being taught as a prescribed, deterministic system of beliefs and procedures as it is often done, I suggest instead that it would be more appropriate to teach science as a way of thinking and making sense of dialectical processes in nature. Not as set of ultimate “truths”, but as understandings of processes themselves in the process of simultaneously becoming and being transformed.

DOI: 10.1007/s11422-009-9252-z
Online Date: 1/12/2010
View article on SpringerLink

by Seals, Mark A.

In David Long’s article, Scientists at Play in a Field of the Lord, he studies the discourse between a network of regional scientists, atheists, activists and evolutionists at the opening of The Creation Museum on Memorial Day, 2007. This review essay examines the teaching of evolution through the teacher’s ‘lens of empathy’ and also considers a ‘pupil centeredness’ approach. As a practicing science educator, I have found it paramount to take into consideration my students’ backgrounds and their families’ beliefs in order to understand their preconceived notions about the origins of life. By teaching evolution as ‘a theory with both facts and fallacies’ only then does it become an opportunity for critical thinking that fosters growth and risk taking in a safe environment. Most times students hear evolution preached as a one-sided lecture by teachers who believe it’s “my way or the highway” and leave little or no room for dialogue. I believe that a teacher’s job is to stay updated with current research on the theory of evolution and then present all the information to students in a way that creates personal opportunities for them to adjust their existing schema without demeaning them, their ideas, or their faith or belief system. This not only shows value, compassion and tolerance for them as thinking humans, but also allows them opportunities to develop critical thinking, which helps to shape whom they become as adults.

DOI: 10.1007/s11422-009-9251-0
Online Date: 1/12/2010
View article on SpringerLink

by Long, David E.

Discussing themes from my paper Scientists at play in a field of the Lord, three forum participants identify and discuss continuing social and epistemological issues which continue to challenge effective evolution education. I extend these themes and further amplify the vexing nature of an effective dialectic regarding evolution, especially for Creationists. By doing so, I offer that a full dialectic regarding evolution in classrooms requires quite a bit more explicit historicizing of both the nature of science and religion.

DOI: 10.1007/s11422-009-9253-y
Online Date: 1/8/2010
View article on SpringerLink

by Long, David E.

The Answers in Genesis Creation Museum opened in May of 2007. During the opening day, a loosely affiliated group of scientists joined in a Rally for Reason as they termed it to protest the museum’s potential effect on science in the United States. This paper discusses ethnographic data collected before and during the rally. Scientist narratives disclose the rationale for their participation at the rally, unpacking their hopes, fears and social ideals vis-à-vis their perception of the Museum’s impact. With these ideals, I discuss the lacking discourse between the values of ideal of science literacy, the contested authority of museums and their publics, and a lacking conception of how a valuerationality aligned towards the Museum’s message continues to be culturally produced.

DOI: 10.1007/s11422-009-9249-7
Online Date: 1/7/2010
View article on SpringerLink