Survey: Have you (or your kids) had an evolution vs. creationism (or ID) discussion in class?

A lot of students mention in posts that they're having these discussions or debates in class ... but they don't mention what class or grade level.





So please include:


1. What class (biology, general science, debate class)?


2. What grade?


3. What state or country (if outside U.S.)?


4. What prompted the discussion (teacher assignment, textbook, or a student)?


5. (Optional) What was the outcome? ( What was the conclusion left by the class? What was your conclusion? Did you leave with an understanding of what the scientific community believes? Where you, or other students, left confused? How did the teacher sum up?)





And PLEASE, regardless of what side you fall on, please don't argue your opinion here. My goal is not to rehash the debate here. I just want to know if and how this debate is happening in science classrooms these days.





Thanks!

Survey: Have you (or your kids) had an evolution vs. creationism (or ID) discussion in class?
1. AP Biology ( and possibly a little of social Darwinism in US History)


2. 11th


3. TN (US)


4. We were discussing evolution in my AP Biology class. ( we did not talk about creationism)


5. Well, in my biology class we had a court case between Darwin and Lamark and it was a pretty fun thing we did. We were put into groups or were assigned a person had to research them and the people who were lawyers of the two people also had to question the people called up and then the jury had to chose who won the case.


Its something that in my opinion should be taught. I was not confused I learned about the different sides of evolution and it was fun. My teacher rocks. We had a small sum of the day after (which I think was a Monday) and we talked about the two and before the case we took notes on the subject.
Reply:Thanks to all ... although ...





.... it's a bummer that more people voted than participated in my survey. I'll try again in R%26amp;S. Report Abuse

Reply:1. High school Biology.


2. 10th grade (a few years ago).


3. Kentucky (private baptist school...long story about how a lifelong agnostic ended up in a religious school)


4. I did.


5. As I said in answering number 3, it was a religious school. The teacher did not have a degree in biology and basically just read from the book in class. The book had a section on Evolution right before the Taxonomy section of the book (logical right?) and I asked why we were not going to study the section (I'd already learned everything in it long before). I was told that as the school was christian, we would be learning about Intelligent Design. I challenged that and started asking pointed questions about how Intelligent Design explains vestigal anatomy in humans and other animals. My questions prompted outrage from some students and curiosity from others and the entire class continued the talk. In the end, I was sent to the principal for disrupting the class. The principal told me that I was not to bring any more satan spew into the classroom. I was not a happy camper. :P
Reply:1. Biology


2. 9th grade


3. California, US


4. Teacher assignment


5. Most of the students were evolutionists, but there were several creationists. I am an evolutionist, and have been ever since I learned about evolution (7th grade). My teacher was a creationist, though he didn't tell us that off the bat. There was no closure; I don't believe he made it clear to the class that most people today, and almost all scientists, are evolutionists. All in all, our opinions on evolution pretty much stayed the same.
Reply:Yeah we did - In History (when we were doing about the monkey trials in America) and in Religion just as a general discussion about creation. The outcome was that most people believed in Evolution and it was pretty clear yeah. The teacher was just like people have different opinions and its up to you which one you believe in.


It was in Year 10 England which is Grade 9 in US or something like that.
Reply:I'm probably not your target demographic, but I'll answer your questions because I've participated in these classroom discussions (although at the graduate level).





1. Organic Evolution


2. Master's Degree


3. USA


4. Professor prompted. It was not a war of creationism versus evolution. Instead, it was an engaged discussion of the science of evolution and its scientific data versus the non-science arguments.


5. The discussion was saved for the end of the semester, so by then we had a decent foundation of evolutionary theory. My personal conclusion was that there was no reason not to accept evolutionary theory. A few students had difficulty letting go of personal beliefs. However, a greater number of students saw no conflict between their beliefs and evolution. The professor summed up by saying something that has been drilled into my mind - MUTATION IS RANDOM, NATURAL SELECTION IS NOT!