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Dr. Keller received her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of New Mexico in 1992.
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Is the Darwin-Creation split creating “two” science educations?
On March 6, 2010 the Associated Press ran an article describing how Christian based science materials dominate the homeschool market. The article explains the frustration a homeschool mom experienced teaching her 10-year old daughter biology using a Biblically based science curriculum.
The homeschool market touts a whopping 1.5 million students and within this market there is a deepening gap between Christian and secular needs. But what is causing this gap? Is this a difference of way to employ the scientific method or how to investigate light traveling through water, or is there something more?
The gap marks a difference of opinion about how to interpret scientific information. That is, both sides can agree on the data but what the data mean differ depending on a person’s viewpoint. A Creationist is likely to interpret the ability of some bacteria to digest nylon as an adaptation using a Creationist viewpoint, and a Darwinist might take the same data and call it evidence of large-scale evolution, using a materialist viewpoint. Christian parents are aware of the materialist viewpoints found in most science textbooks and they tend to reject any mention of Darwin or evolutionary theories. On the other side, secular parents do not want “Biblically-based” science books and often reject viewpoints that are not narrowly confined to materialist philosophy. This difference in the “philosophy of science” or how to interpret scientific data is causing a divisive split between these two groups resulting in an emergence of “two” distinct science educations; one for Christian students and one for secular students.
But are “two” science educations really the answer? Should each camp circle their wagons educating their children exclusively from one viewpoint? Maybe we need to rethink this issue and find ways to teach our children how to listen to and evaluate an opposing viewpoint. The Real Science-4-Kids Critical Thinking Kog does just that. This workbook can help students from both camps evaluate scientific claims and counterclaims. If we teach kids how to evaluate scientific data for themselves perhaps we don’t need two different science educations.
(Find out more about our Critical Thinking books at www.gravitaspublications.com)
Along these lines, at the Creation Museum today, we were presented with both sides which were described as two different starting points: Human Reason and God’s Word.
I am looking forward to taking a peak out your Critical Thinking Kogs. I hope we can view a sample….I’ll go to Gravitas Homepage now!
Thank you for your blog! I’ll definitely be a follower!
Thanks so much for the sample chapter of your KOGS Critical Thinking Skills! It was very interesting to me!