Science Denial and the Science Classroom

Liu, Dennis W. C.

doi:10.1187/cbe.12-03-0029

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…While improving accessibility helps facilitate peer reviewing; non-peer-reviewed articles can potentially be used, or cherry picked, by non-professionals that can adversely affect public understanding. [58][59][60][61] Health literacy also plays a crucial role in how COVID-19 information influences health behaviour. The associations between health literacy and health behaviour are well documented: low literacy is common among older adults engaging in poor health behaviour (p<0.005) ranging from lifestyles, such as physical activity, dietary habits and obesity, to social factors, such as loneliness and social isolation.…”

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confidence: 99%

COVID-19 prevention and treatment information on the internet: a systematic analysis and quality assessment

et al. 2020

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ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of information regarding the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 available to the general public from all countries.DesignSystematic analysis using the ‘Ensuring Quality Information for Patients’ (EQIP) Tool (score 0–36), Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark (score 0–4) and the DISCERN Tool (score 16–80) to analyse websites containing information targeted at the general public.Data sourcesTwelve popular search terms, including ‘Coronavirus’, ‘COVID-19 19’, ‘Wuhan virus’, ‘How to treat coronavirus’ and ‘COVID-19 19 Prevention’ were identified by ‘Google AdWords’ and ‘Google Trends’. Unique links from the first 10 pages for each search term were identified and evaluated on its quality of information.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesAll websites written in the English language, and provides information on prevention or treatment of COVID-19 intended for the general public were considered eligible. Any websites intended for professionals, or specific isolated populations, such as students from one particular school, were excluded, as well as websites with only video content, marketing content, daily caseload update or news dashboard pages with no health information.ResultsOf the 1275 identified websites, 321 (25%) were eligible for analysis. The overall EQIP, JAMA and DISCERN scores were 17.8, 2.7 and 38.0, respectively. Websites originated from 34 countries, with the majority from the USA (55%). News Services (50%) and Government/Health Departments (27%) were the most common sources of information and their information quality varied significantly. Majority of websites discuss prevention alone despite popular search trends of COVID-19 treatment. Websites discussing both prevention and treatment (n=73, 23%) score significantly higher across all tools (p<0.001).ConclusionThis comprehensive assessment of online COVID-19 information using EQIP, JAMA and DISCERN Tools indicate that most websites were inadequate. This necessitates improvements in online resources to facilitate public health measures during the pandemic.

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confidence: 99%

COVID-19 prevention and treatment information on the internet: a systematic analysis and quality assessment

et al. 2020

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“…Two separate polls in 2001 and 2005 found that only between about a third and half of the respondents felt very familiar or informed with the theory of evolution (Plutzer and Berkman, ). Other recent science denial topics include the rise in antibiotic resistance, human immunodeficiency virus as the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, exaggeration and denial of harmful side effects of pesticides, existence of holes in the ozone layer, health risks caused by cigarette smoking, and water and environmental damage caused by hydraulic fracturing (Liu, ).…”

Section: Poll Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As noted in the Poll Data section, one of the major barriers to acceptance of evolution is a conflict with a worldview that includes religious belief (e.g., Meadows et al, ; Smith, ; Glaze, ), whether perceived or real (Liu, ). Coburn () describes worldview as the generally subconscious, culturally dependent, nonrational foundation and fundamental organization of the mind that manifests itself as a set of assumptions or presuppositions that predispose someone to think, feel, and act in predictable patterns.…”

Section: Obstacles To Accepting and Understanding Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evolution is a core concept in the American Association for the Advancement for Science (AAAS)'s Benchmarks for Science Literacy (Project 2061, ), the National Science Education Standards (NSES) for Grades K‐12 developed by the National Research Council in 1996 (Bybee, ) and the more recent Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS; National Research Council, ), is listed first in the Core Concepts for Biological Literacy for college undergraduates (Brewer and Smith, ), “is taught matter‐of‐factly in the biology and geology departments of every respected university in the country, secular or sectarian, from the University of California at Berkeley to Brigham Young University” (Branch et al, : 330), and has been supported by empirical research from anatomy to zoology (Hermann, ). Yet evolution denial by the much of the American public has been in stark contrast to consensus within the scientific community despite nearly a century of increases in levels of formal education and additional scientific evidence (Plutzer and Berkman, ), ranging from “ignorance of the evidence to outright denial or distortion of data” (Liu, : 129), and stems from a myriad of often interwoven reasons. Here I will explore some of the challenges to accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning evolution, focusing on human evolution whenever examples and data exist, and suggest some possible ways forward toward overcoming these obstacles.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities

Pobiner

2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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Questions about our origin as a species are universal and compelling. Evolution-and in particular human evolution-is a subject that generates intense interest across the world, evidenced by the fact that fossil and DNA discoveries grace the covers of major science journals and magazines as well as other popular print and online media. However, virtually all national polls indicate that the majority of Americans strongly reject biological evolution as a fact-based, well-tested, and robust understanding of the history of life. In the popular mind, no topic in all of science is more contentious or polarizing than evolution and media sources often only serve to magnify this polarization by covering challenges to the teaching of evolution. In the realm of teaching, debates about evolution have shaped textbooks, curricula, standards, and policy. Challenges to accepting and understanding evolution include mistrust and denial of science, cognitive obstacles and misconceptions, language and terminology, and a religious worldview, among others. Teachers, who are on the front lines of these challenges, must be armed with the tools and techniques to teach evolution in formal education settings across grades K-16 in a straightforward, thorough, and sensitive way. Despite the potentially controversial topic of human evolution, growing research is demonstrating that a pedagogical focus on human examples is an effective and engaging way to teach core concepts of evolutionary biology. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:S232-S274,

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“…These factors can contribute to general misconceptions about evolutionary theory, which prove difficult to resolve, as well as strong opposition, due to religious beliefs, which contradict the scientific theory (Liu, 2012). The University of California, Berkeley's "Understanding Evolution" website (University of California Museum of Paleontology, 2015) lists nine common misconceptions regarding evolutionary theory.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinguishing Science from Non-Science: Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives on Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design

Bloom¹

2017

INT J EDUC METHODOL

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Biological evolution stands out as critically important content for K-12 education as it is considered a cornerstone of the biological sciences. Yet, it remains one of the most socially controversial topics related to science education. In this exploratory study, we are seeking to understand the ways elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) use their views of science to justify including or excluding alternative explanations to evolution in the science curriculum. This investigation included 76 PSTs who were enrolled in an elementary science methods course. Data came from an activity designed by the authors entitled "Science in the Public SchoolsSchool Board Scenario." The scenario proposed that the local school board was considering a motion to alter the science curriculum by introducing creationism and intelligent design (ID) to the unit on biological evolution and the PSTs had to offer their informed recommendations. The two researchers independently read and coded the data using an inductive, constant comparative approach. Findings revealed that 32 would not add creationism or ID, 26 would add both, 9 would add creationism, 6 would add ID, and 3 would only mention them. PSTs came up with diverse explanations for their decision on if to include alternative explanations when teaching evolution. Common rationales emerged within each group and are further explored.

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Science Denial and the Science Classroom

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

COVID-19 prevention and treatment information on the internet: a systematic analysis and quality assessment

COVID-19 prevention and treatment information on the internet: a systematic analysis and quality assessment

Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities

Distinguishing Science from Non-Science: Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives on Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design

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