This event took place on 6th March 2010
Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
For more than 10 years, Joan Solomon was a loyal and inspiring visiting colleague for the many Science Faculty staff in the OU with an interest in science education. She shared the OU’s ‘open’ philosophy of reaching out to all – and her intelligence and strength of character inspired many OU staff in their teaching and research activities, including our work on the Science and Society element of our Masters programme. This lecture is dedicated to her memory, in an area of scholarship that she found fascinating and rewarding, given by a valued friend and colleague:
Until recently, little attention has been paid in schools or museums to creationism and almost none to intelligent design. However, creationism and possibly intelligent design appear to be on the increase and there are indications that some schools are becoming battlegrounds over them. I begin by examining whether creationism and intelligent design are controversial issues. I then examine whether the notion of ‘worldviews’ in the context of creationism is a useful one by considering the film March of the Penguins. I conclude that the ‘worldviews’ perspective on creationism is useful for two reasons: first it indicates the difficulty of using the criterion of reason to decide whether an issue is controversial or not; secondly, it suggests that standard ways of addressing the diversity of student views may be inadequate. I close by examining the implications of this view for teaching in science lessons, museums and elsewhere, for example in religious education lessons and citizenship lessons and at primary level where subject divisions cannot be made in so clear-cut a manner
For more than 10 years, Joan Solomon was a loyal and inspiring visiting colleague for the many Science Faculty staff in the OU with an interest in science education. She shared the OU’s ‘open’ philosophy of reaching out to all – and her intelligence and strength of character inspired many OU staff in their teaching and research activities, including our work on the Science and Society element of our Masters programme. This lecture is dedicated to her memory, in an area of scholarship that she found fascinating and rewarding, given by a valued friend and colleague:
Click below to play the event (53 minutes)