ERIC Number: EJ1277970
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Dec
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
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ISSN: ISSN-1871-1502
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Demarcation as a Classroom Response to Creationism: A Critical Examination of the National Academy of Sciences' "Science, Evolution, and Creationism" (2008)
Lessl, Thomas M.
Cultural Studies of Science Education, v15 n4 p923-935 Dec 2020
Teaching materials frequently answer objections to evolution by demarcating science from religion. Because definitions of science shaped by demarcation tend to magnify its empirical features, they weaken students' understanding of science's theoretical dimension. Demarcation fails to answer creationism for the opposite reason; by insisting that the observable world is the exclusive domain of science, it undermines the core Abrahamic assumption that nature can make meaningful reference to a divine creator. After exploring how demarcation is employed in a booklet designed to guide educators who address evolution and creationism, the National Academy of Sciences' "Science, Evolution, and Creationism" (2008), I conclude by proposing a more balanced approach for teaching about NOS and creationism. [For a review essay on this article, "Philosophy in the Science Classroom: How Should Biology Teachers Explain the Relationship between Science and Religion to Students?," see EJ1277969.]
Descriptors: Science Education, Sciences, Religion, Creationism, Scientific Concepts, Scientific Principles, Definitions, Evolution
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
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Language: English
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