Explore Evolution: The Arguments For and Against Neo-Darwinism - Promotion

Promotion

The Discovery Institute is promoting Explore Evolution as a superior and comprehensive approach to teaching evolution to high school biology students:

"Sadly, the majority of biology textbooks in use today are ‘dumbed-down’ and do a poor job explaining evolution," said Dr. John West of Discovery Institute, the book’s United States distributor. "Explore Evolution will improve the teaching of evolution by providing teachers and students with more information about evolution than they are likely to find in any other textbook written at the same level."

The Discovery Institute emphasizes that the book Explore Evolution encourages critical thinking:

Explore Evolution promotes inquiry-based learning, encouraging students to participate in the process of discovery, deliberation, and argument that scientists use to form their theories. "Explore Evolution brings to the classroom data and debates that already are raised regularly by scientists in their science journals," emphasized science education policy analyst Casey Luskin, M.S., J.D. “Exposure to these real-world scientific debates will make the study of evolution more interesting to students, and it will train them to be better scientists by encouraging them to actually practice the kind of critical thinking and analysis that forms the heart of science.”

The Discovery Institute states that the textbook was "peer-reviewed" and suggests that it was written by authors with impeccable credentials:

Co-authored by two state university biology professors, two philosophers of science, and a science curriculum writer, Explore Evolution was peer-reviewed by biology faculty at both state and private universities, teachers with experience in both AP and pre-AP life science courses, and doctoral scientists working for industry and government. The textbook has been pilot-tested in classes at both the secondary school and college levels.

The Master of Arts Program in Science and Religion and the Department of Education of Los Angeles' evangelical Christian Biola University (formerly the Bible Institute of Los Angeles) presented a conference entitled Science Teacher Symposium - Teaching Biological Origins on August 3 and 4 of 2007. A major thrust of this conference was to introduce and promote Explore Evolution as a textbook to teachers and others.

Several public school and college courses used drafts of Explore Evolution in courses before its official publication date. There are plans to use Explore Evolution in a public school in Tacoma, Washington.

In late 2009 the UK based creationist group "Truth in Science" sent out copies of the book to UK school librarians claiming that it was suitable for the UK science curriculum. In response the British Centre for Science Education published an open letter to UK school librarians together with a leaflet called "Explore Evolution Exposed" that was based on the NCSE analysis and adapted for the UK.

Read more about this topic:  Explore Evolution: The Arguments For And Against Neo-Darwinism

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