Science Ideals and Science Careers in a University Biology Department

Autor/in	Long, David E.
Titel	Science Ideals and Science Careers in a University Biology Department
Quelle	In: Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, 7 (2014) 1, S.29-45 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1755-2273
DOI	10.3167/latiss.2014.070103
Schlagwörter	Biology; Departments; Science Careers; Ethnography; Scientific Literacy; Evolution; Creationism; Controversial Issues (Course Content); Beliefs; World Views; College Faculty; College Students; Teacher Attitudes; Student Attitudes; Criticism; Organizational Culture + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Biologie; Department; Abteilung; Ethnografie; Schöpfungstheologie; Controversial issues; Kontroverse; Belief; Glaube; World view; Weltanschauung; Fakultät; Collegestudent; Lehrerverhalten; Schülerverhalten; Kritik; Unternehmenskultur
Abstract	In an ethnographic study set within a biology department of a public university in the United States, incongruity between the ideals and practice of science education are investigated. Against the background of religious conservative students' complaints about evolution in the curriculum, biology faculty describe their political intents for fostering science literacy. This article examines differences that emerge between the department's rhetorical commitment to improve science understanding amongst their students and the realities of course staffing and anxieties about promotion and tenure. Because tenure-track faculty are motivated to focus their careers on research productivity and teaching biology majors, other biology courses are staffed with adjunct instructors who are less equipped to negotiate complex pedagogies of science and religion. In practice, faculty avoid risky conversations about evolution versus creationism with religiously conservative students. I argue that such faculty are complicit, through their silence, in failing to equip their students with the science literacy which their own profession avows is crucial for a well-informed citizenry in a democracy. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10