Science and Culture Today | Page 1296 | Discovering Design in Nature

With the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth looming, lecture halls are booked up with Darwinist celebrations and attacks on intelligent design. A couple of the usual suspects on the Darwin birthday circuit are Jerry Coyne and Eugenie Scott.
Recently, I saw that they would both be speaking at the University of Central Florida, at the behest of the university’s biology department. The topic? For Coyne it was intelligent design, and for Scott it was academic freedom (seriously). So, I thought I’d inquire as to whether or not UCF would be balancing these anti-ID lectures with views from the other side. Here’s the response I got:

Three of six experts selected by the Texas State Board of Education to review a proposed update of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for science have recommended that the TEKS retain controversial language calling on students to examine the “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theories in order to strengthen students’ critical thinking skills.

“Some activist groups are pressuring the State Board to cut that language from the TEKS in order to artificially shield Darwin’s theory from the normal process of scientific inquiry,” said Casey Luskin, an education policy analyst at Discovery Institute. “However, as these three experts point out, examining the strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories is a core part of the scientific process, and abandoning such critical analysis merely to satisfy ideological demands of Darwinists harms students by giving them a false view of scientific inquiry.”

This is the fifth installment of a series responding to John Timmer’s online review of the supplementary biology textbook Explore Evolution (EE). The first part is here, the second here, the third here, and the fourth here. 5. When Did Neo-Darwinism Become a Dirty Word?Timmer objects to Explore Evolution‘s subtitle, “The Arguments For and Against Neo-Darwinism,” claiming that “[d]uring the roughly 20 years I was directly involved in biology research, I’d never come across the term ‘Darwinism.’” EE‘s subtitle actually uses the word “neo-Darwinism,” not “Darwinism,” but regardless, Timmer’s complaint reveals more about his own ignorance than it does about any inaccuracy on the part of EE. Terms like “Darwinism” and “neo-Darwinism” (or similar cognates like “Darwinian,” “neo-Darwinian,” or “Darwinist”) Read More ›

Texas is currently updating its academic standards, known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), in the area of science. In September 2008, writing committees working for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) proposed revised TEKS that largely eliminated previous language calling on students to examine the “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theories. In the proposed revision, the “strengths and weaknesses” language was retained in a few areas (like high school chemistry), but it was scrapped in the vast majority of subject areas, most notably in high school biology. The clear goal in proposing the removal of the “strengths and weaknesses” language from the TEKS was to shield biological evolution from critical scrutiny by students or teachers. In October, members Read More ›

What is the science standards issue currently before the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE)?During 2008-09, the Texas SBOE is reviewing the state’s science standards, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for science, which were originally adopted in 1998. The controversial issue before the SBOE is whether the TEKS will retain existing language calling for students to learn about both the scientific “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theories. Some have proposed removing that language from the TEKS entirely, while others have suggested that good science education that encourages critical thinking should apply to all aspects of the curriculum, especially to the teaching of controversial scientific theories like neo-Darwinian evolution. In September 2008, writing committees working for the Texas Education Read More ›

[Note: For a comprehensive defense of Ben Stein’s documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, please see: NCSE Exposed at NCSEExposed.org] These ten lucky folks have won themselves a free copy of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, starring Ben Stein and now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. If you weren’t lucky this time, you can still purchase a copy of the DVD for just $17.99. And it makes for a great Christmas gift, so pick up a few and spread the word to your friends and family. The winners are: Gary Jordan, WashingtonGary Vinson, TexasRandy Hansen, IowaD’Arcy McGreer, VirginiaKen Sanderson, AustraliaBRIAN WIEMKEN, CaliforniaChip Crush, KentuckyLa-Aja Wiggins, CaliforniaMark Giacoletti, PennsylvaniaGina Allen, Missouri Winners will be contacted by e-mail. DVDs will be mailed out and Read More ›

This is the fourth in a blog series responding to John Timmer’s online review of the supplementary biology textbook Explore Evolution. The first part is here, the second here, and the third here.

4. Well, the Tetrapods are Monophyletic: Only “Ph.D.” Malcolm Gordon Disagrees, Right?
Timmer accuses EE of what he calls the “find a Ph.D.” approach: “if you look hard enough, you can find someone with a PhD who will say anything.” In this instance, Timmer disparages the minority viewpoint of UCLA biologist Malcolm Gordon (a tenured professor, actually), who has argued that the tetrapods may have evolved polyphyletically (i.e., more than once).