Hawar Khalandi
Article Topic: LC1
Submitted: 10/3/2006 12:23:43 PM
Scharmann, L.C.2005. A Proactive Strategy for Teaching Evolution, The American Biology Teacher, 67, 12-16.
Summary: This article introduces the learning cycle as a method of teaching evolution. As we all know evolution is a very sensitive and hard topic to discuss in a classroom full of teenagers who mostly have come from a religious background. Our goal as biology teachers is not to change our students’ minds about their religious believes, instead our goal as biology teachers should be that students understand and know evolutionary theory to be the most powerful modern problem-solving tool. In disease control evolutionary theory is used daily. We need to make sure that our students understand that evolution is a powerful idea that has changed the way we approach each and every biological problem. The learning cycle starts by engaging the students to the topic being discussed, in this case evolution. The teacher would do that by requesting students to answer a few questions assigned by the teacher. In the exploration part of the learning cycle, the teacher would assign students to small groups and have them discuss their responses with their classmates. Once this is completed, have groups develop a set of reasons for learning evolution, for not learning evolution and why? Through out this discussion, the teacher should monitor group progress and be aware of any disrespect of opinions. The teacher should remind the students that the intent of the discussion is to listen to and respect the opinions of others. Then, each group should select a spokesperson to share their responses. The explanation part of the learning cycle is where the teacher brings the whole class together for a large group discussion. This is when the teacher addresses any misinformation and introduces some benefits of evolutionary thinking such as: antibiotics, herbicides/pesticides, identification of new diseases, and vaccines. I decided to include this quote by smith because I think this is something every biology teacher should know: "If we are to be successful in teaching evolution, we must take into account our students’ worldviews as well as their individual understandings and misconceptions. … It is important to know our students – their cultures, personal histories, cognitive abilities, religious beliefs, [and] scientific misconceptions. [It is also important] … to address directly the likely cultural/religious concerns with evolution and to do so early on so as to break down the barriers that keep students from hearing what you say." — Smith, 1994, p. 591
Reaction: I found this article to be very helpful and interesting. I personally have been struggling with the idea of introducing evolution to my students and doing it successfully. I know for a fact that evolution is capable of explaining a great deal about biology and that nothing in biology would make sense without evolution. I believe that the confusion over evolution is due to the inability of scientists or teachers to communicate effectively to the general public. Therefore, we as teachers should be aware of that and do our best to make sure we are not teaching incorrect and false concepts and ideas about evolution.