STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING EVOLUTION IN AN INTRODUCTORY PALEONTOLOGY COURSE FOR NON-SCIENCE MAJORS

Paleontology courses that fulfill general science requirements offer both challenges and opportunities for teaching about evolution. At University of North Carolina Wilmington, students enroll in the introductory paleontology course “Prehistoric Life” for two main reasons: 1) to receive life science credit without having to dissect anything; 2) the lure of dinosaurs. Most students enter the course with little knowledge of evolution, and some assume that evolution and religion are incompatible. They often have weak science backgrounds and (because they do not intend to major in science) less incentive to learn about topics they assume threaten their faith. Teaching evolution in this context is challenging, and yet opportunities abound for preparing such students to make informed decisions on public policy issues related to teaching evolution and creationism/intelligent design.

The following strategies have been effective in teaching evolution to students who may initially be non-receptive. 1) Before introducing evolution, build understanding of the fossil record and geologic time through active learning. 2) In discussing evolution: a) clarify the nature of science (e.g., predictive, tests hypotheses, constantly being revised) and of problem terms like “theory”; b) differentiate science from religion and reinforce that they need not conflict; c) ask students to draw predictions from the theory of evolution (descent with modification) and compare them to evidence from fossil and living organisms; d) describe the mechanisms of evolution, particularly natural selection, in a simple manner that makes them less mysterious to students. 3) Give students opportunity to respond by writing a reaction to the GSA position statement on teaching evolution, which helps them formulate their own views and assures them that their religious beliefs are respected. 4) Cultivate evolutionary thinking about virtually every class topic (e.g., What natural selective pressures likely led to the origin of tetrapods? patterns in horse evolution? bipedalism in hominids? What is the evidence for evolutionary transitions in early tetrapods? mammaliaforms? whales? hominids?). Through these strategies, evolution becomes less mysterious and threatening and students become used to seeing life through the lens of evolution.