How To Explain Evolution Korea To A Five-Year-Old
Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept Asia required a major review of the old system of government-business alliances and the public management of private risks. In Korea this meant a change in the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision, the South Korean government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests to remove examples of evolution in science texts for high school students. This includes the evidence supporting the evolution of horses and the avian ancestral Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has pushed textbook publishers to eliminate evidence of evolution from high school science texts. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent offshoot from the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the move. The STR claims that such materialistic views create a negative image for students and leads to their eventual loss of faith.
Scientists from all over the world expressed concern when the STR campaign gained attention. In a letter to the editor of Nature, evolutionary biologist Jae Choe from Ewha Womans University in Seoul complained that South Korea had given in to religious prejudice. He was supported by colleagues from around the country who gathered into a group named Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some researchers are concerned that the STR will be spread to other regions of the globe, including areas where creationism has been on the rise. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolutionist campaign putting pressure on textbook revisions, specifically in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
The South Korean culture is especially strong in the evolution debate. 26 percent of the nation's citizens belong to one of the religious groups and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also follow Ch'ondogyo, an ideology based on Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony, individual self-cultivation, and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo is a way of teaching that the human being is one with Hanulnim the God of Sun and that heavenly blessings are achievable by doing good deeds.
All of this has created fertile ground for the spread of creationism. Multiple studies have shown students who have religious backgrounds to be more reluctant to learn about evolution than those who don't. The underlying causes of this phenomenon are not clear. Students with a religious background might be less knowledgeable about scientific theories, which makes them more susceptible to creationists' influence. Another reason could be that students with religious backgrounds tend to view evolution as a religious concept which could make them less comfortable with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns in schools have raised concerns among the scientific community. A study conducted in 2009 found that nearly 40 percent of Americans believe that biological evolution is not true and that believing in it would be contrary to their convictions about religion. Many scientists believe that, despite the popularity of creationism, the best way to combat this movement is to educate the public about the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are responsible for teaching their students science including the theory of evolution. They should also inform the general public about the science process, and how scientific knowledge is collected and confirmed. They must also explain how scientific theories are frequently challenged and revised. However, misperceptions regarding the nature of scientific research often cause people to believe that evolution is not real.
For example, some people are able to confuse the term "theory" with the normal meaning of the word - a hunch or a guess. However, in science the theory is thoroughly tested and verified using evidence. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed becomes a scientific principle.
The debate over evolutionary theory is a good occasion to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is important to understand that science is not able to answer questions about life's purpose or meaning, but rather offers a way for living things to develop and evolve.
A well-rounded education must include exposure to the major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is especially important since the jobs that people have and the choices they make require understanding of how science functions.
The vast majority of scientists across the world accept that humans have evolved over time. A recent study that predicted the adults' view of the consensus on this issue found that those with higher education levels and scientific knowledge were more likely to believe that there is a general consensus between scientists regarding human evolution. The people with more religious beliefs and have less science-based knowledge tend to be more skeptical. It is crucial that educators emphasize the importance of understanding this consensus so that people can make informed decisions regarding health care, energy usage and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a cousin of the mainstream evolutionary theory. It examines how humans and other organisms learn from one another. Researchers in this field utilize explanation models and tools adapted from those used by evolutionary theorists, and they go back to human prehistory to discover the genesis of our capacity for culture.
This method also acknowledges the distinction between cultural and biological traits. Cultural traits can be acquired gradually while biological traits are mostly inherited at the same time (in the case of sexual species after fertilization). As a result, the acquisition of one trait may affect the development of another.
In Korea, the adoption of Western style elements in the latter part of the nineteenth and early 20th century was the result of a complex sequence of events. One of the most significant was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and clothing styles to Korean society.
When Japan left Korea in the 1930s, a portion of those trends began to reverse. By the end of World War II, Korea was once more united but this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the recent financial crisis Korea's economy has been growing at a steady pace over the last decade. It is expected to continue this growth in the near future.
The current government is faced with a variety of challenges. One of the biggest is its inability to find a consistent policy to deal with the economic crisis. 에볼루션 게이밍 has exposed shortcomings in the policies of the country and its reliance on exports and foreign investment which could not last.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors, the government needs to review its economic strategy and come up with alternatives to boost domestic demand. It also needs to reform the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems that are currently in place to ensure a stable financial environment. This chapter offers a variety of scenarios on how the Korean economy could develop post-crisis.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for educators of evolution lies in how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for various levels of development and ages. Teachers need to, for instance be aware of the religious diversity in their classrooms and create an environment where students with both secular and religious beliefs are comfortable. Teachers should be able to recognize common misconceptions about evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have access to a range of resources available for teaching evolution and be able to find them quickly.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played a significant role in bringing evolutionary researchers and educators from different sectors to discuss best practices for teaching Evolution. Attendees included representatives of scientific societies and educational researchers, as well as officials from government funding agencies as well as curriculum developers. The convergence of different participants helped to identify a set of shared recommendations that will serve as the basis for future actions.
It is essential to incorporate evolution in all science curricula at every level. To achieve this goal it is recommended that the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in a seamless manner across all life sciences with a progression of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC offers guidelines to schools on how they can integrate evolution into the science curriculum.
Numerous studies have shown that a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of evolution is linked to more knowledge and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to quantify the causal effects of evolution in the classroom because the curriculum for schools do not change randomly and are affected by the timing of state board of education and gubernatorial election. To overcome this issue I use a longitudinal data set that gives me to control for the effects of years and states fixed and individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers about evolutionary theory.
Teachers who are more comfortable in teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is in line with the idea that faculty who are more confident are less likely to avoid evolution-related topics in the classroom. They may also be more inclined to use strategies such as the reconciliatory method known to increase the acceptance of undergraduate students of evolution.