The Essentials of Creationism: Improving Evolution Education

Lee Traynor, MA

Lecturer in English for Science, Centre for Applied Languages, Leibniz University of

Hannover, Germany

© 2007 Lee Traynor The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response, Dublin, 7 Sep 07

Method

DidacticalReconstruction:

Conceptual Change

Moderate Constructivism

© 2007 Lee Traynor The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response, Dublin, 7 Sep 07

Hierarchy arbitrary strict relaxed

Change non-essential, practically infinitessimal

coincidental, superficial

stepwise, cumulative

Reasoning eclectic everyday hypothetico-deductive, consilient

Comparing Concepts

ID Creationist (SC) Naïve (LC) Evolutionary (SC)

Origins divine, artefactual creation, essentialism, ultimate causation

hereditary, non-artefactual transmission, proximate causation

derivation through natural selection, historical causation

© 2007 Lee Traynor The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response, Dublin, 7 Sep 07

Textbook Portrayals

Allopatry/sympatry

Prezygotic/postzygotic isolation mechanisms

Anagenesis/cladogenesis

= Putting the cart before the horse ("unsticky" ideas)

© 2007 Lee Traynor The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response, Dublin, 7 Sep 07

Problem: Speciation

Creationists: "Nobody has ever seen a new species evolve."

Evolutionist: "Speciation is probably fairly rare and in many cases might take centuries…"

[John Rennie, 15 Answers, SciAm, 2002]

© 2007 Lee Traynor The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response, Dublin, 7 Sep 07

Solutions to the Unimaginable

Black holes (Asimov's sequence)

Division by 0 (differentiation)

Summation of infinite sequences (integration)

© 2007 Lee Traynor The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response, Dublin, 7 Sep 07

Proposed Solution

Polyploidy in plants (Trago-pogon, Helianthus)

Polyploidy in animals(salmon); sex

Gene duplication and living fossils

Chromosome rearrangements and speciation; rates of evolution

massey.ac.nz

© 2007 Lee Traynor The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response, Dublin, 7 Sep 07

Spin-Offs

Practical science (hypothesis testing)

Solves "increase of information content" problem

Evolution is replicable, experimental

Cell theory, chromosomes

Progress not always from the most advanced (Lamarckian principle)

© 2007 Lee Traynor The Assault on Science: Constructing a Response, Dublin, 7 Sep 07

Selected Literature

Ferrari, M., Chi, M.T.H. (1998). The nature of naïve explanations of natural selection. Int. J. Sci. Educ., 20, 1231-1256.

Gropengießer, H. (2003). Wie man Vorstellungen der Lerner verstehen kann. Lebenswelten, Denkwelten, Sprechwelten [Understanding Leaners' Conceptions. Everyday World, Thought World, Language World]. Beiträge zur Didaktischen Rekonstruktion, Oldenburg.

Kelemen, D., DiYanni, C. (2005). Intuitions About Origins: Purpose and Intelligent Design in Children’s Reasoning About Nature. Journal of Cognition and Development, 6(1), 3-31.

Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things. University of Chicago Press.

Offner, S. (1994): Using Chromosomes to Teach Evolution. American Biology Teacher, 56.2, 79-92.

Pinker, S. (1997). How the Mind Works. Penguin.

Shtulman, A. (2006). Qualitative differences between naive and scientific theories of evolution. Cognitive Psychology, 52, 170-194.