The Creationist Down the Hall: Does It Matter When Teachers Teach Creationism?

摘要

The responses of biology majors in their first year of college differed significantly from those of first-year non-biology majors on only 3 of the 20 items on the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution survey instrument. Despite these differences, and regardless of whether students were or were not biology majors, several findings from the survey stand out: (a) surprisingly high percentages of students accepted creation ism-based claims, (b) students' views of evolution and creationism when they entered college were strongly associated with the treatment of evolution and creationism in the students' high-school biology classes, and (c) on average, incoming biology majors' views of evolution and creationism were similar to those of nonmajors. In this article, these results are discussed relative to the ongoing popularity of creationism among biology majors and biology teachers.