Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that struck Asia forced a major reappraisal of the old model of government-business alliances and public management of private risks. In Korea this required a change in the development model.
In a controversial move South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers not to comply with calls to remove examples of evolution in science books for high school students. This includes the evidence for the evolution of horses and the avian ancestral Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A creationist group from South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. The move was a result of a campaign led by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR) which is an branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to get rid of biology textbooks of "atheist materialism." The STR claims such materialism portrays negative images to students, causing them to be skeptical.
Scientists across the globe expressed worry when the STR campaign was featured in the news. Jae Choe, evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul and wrote an open letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues from across the country, who set up an organization called Evolution Korea to organize a petition to protest the changes to the textbooks.
Researchers are concerned about the possibility that the STR campaign could spread to other regions of the world, where the spread of creationism is increasing. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution campaign increasing pressure on textbook revisions, particularly in countries with large Christian and Muslim population.
The South Korean culture is especially strong in the debate on evolution. 26 percent of the nation's residents belong to one of the religious groups and the majority of them adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. In addition, a lot of Koreans adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy founded on Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony and individual self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo is a way of teaching that the human being is one with Hanulnim, the God of Sun and that heavenly blessings are possible by doing good deeds.
All of this has made creationism a fertile ground. Several studies have shown that students who have religion-based backgrounds tend to be more uncomfortable about learning about evolution than students without religion. However, the root causes of this phenomenon are not clear. Students who are religious may not be as knowledgeable about the theories of science, making them more susceptible to creationists influence. Another reason could be that students who have religious backgrounds might view evolution as a belief system that is atheistic, making them less comfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution programs in schools have raised concerns among the scientific community. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that nearly 40 percent of Americans believed that biological evolution was wrong and that it would conflict their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that despite the popularity of creationism the best method to counter this belief is to educate the public on the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are responsible to instruct their students in science that includes the theory of evolution. They also need to inform the public about the research process and how knowledge is verified. They must also explain that scientific theories are frequently challenged and re-examined. However, misunderstandings regarding the nature of scientific research frequently create anti-evolution beliefs.
For instance, many people may confuse the word "theory" with the everyday meaning of the word - a hunch or guess. In science, however the hypothesis is tested thoroughly, and empirical data is used to confirm it. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed becomes a scientific principle.
The debate over evolution theory is a great chance to discuss the importance of scientific methodology and its limitations. It is essential to be aware that science cannot provide answers to questions about life's purpose or meaning, but rather offers a way for living things to evolve and evolve.
A well-rounded education should also include exposure to all major fields of science including evolutionary biology. This is important because many jobs and choices require individuals understand how science works.
The vast majority of scientists across the world believe that humans have changed over time. A recent study that predicted adults' opinions of the consensus around this issue found that those who had higher levels of education and science knowledge were more likely to believe that there is a broad agreement between scientists regarding human evolution. The people with more religious beliefs and less knowledge of science are more likely to disagree. It is critical that educators insist on the importance of understanding the general consensus on this issue to ensure that people have a solid foundation for making informed decisions about their health care, energy use and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a cousin of mainstream evolutionary theory. It examines how organisms like humans learn from each other. Researchers in this field employ elaborate models and tools that are adapted from the ones used by evolutionary theorists. they look back to human prehistory to discover the origins of our capacity for culture.
This approach also recognizes the distinction between biological and cultural traits. Cultural traits can be acquired gradually while biological traits are typically acquired simultaneously (in the case of sexual species after fertilization). The acquisition of one cultural characteristic may affect the growth and development of a different.
In Korea the emergence of Western style elements in the late nineteenth and early 20th century was the result of an intricate sequence of events. One of the most important was the appearance in Korea of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western clothing and hairstyles.
When Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, a few of these trends began reverse. At the close of World War II, Korea was once again united, this time under the Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the recent global financial crisis, the country's economy has been growing steadily over the past decade and is expected to maintain its steady growth in the coming years.
The current administration is faced with a variety of challenges. The government's inability to formulate an effective strategy to address the current economic crisis is one of the most significant challenges. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's economy policies, including its excessive dependence on foreign investment and exports, which may not be sustainable in the long run.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. As a result, the government must rethink its strategy and find other ways to increase domestic demand. It also needs to overhaul the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems currently in place to ensure the stability of the financial system. This chapter presents several scenarios for how the Korean economy could develop post-crisis.
4. Evolution and Education
The biggest challenge for evolution educators is how to teach evolutionary concepts in ways that are appropriate for students of different levels of development and ages. Teachers must, for example, be sensitive to the religious diversity in their classrooms and create an environment where students with both religious and secular perspectives are at ease. Teachers should also be able recognize common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have quick access to the numerous resources to teach evolution.
In this context the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step in bringing together evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of fields to discuss best practices for teaching evolution. Attendees included representatives of scientific societies, educational researchers, officials from government funding agencies and curriculum designers. The convergence of these diverse stakeholders helped to identify a shared set of recommendations that will be the basis for future action.
A key recommendation is that the teaching of evolution should be incorporated in every science curriculum at every level. To accomplish this, the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in a seamless manner across all life sciences using a sequence of ideas that are developmentally appropriate. Additionally, a new publication from the NRC offers guidance to schools on how to integrate evolution into the science curriculum.
Numerous studies have shown that a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of evolution is linked to higher levels of student understanding and belief in the concept of evolution. However it is difficult to determine causal effects in the classroom is challenging given that school curricula are not randomly assigned and change over time as a result of the predetermined timeframe of gubernatorial elections as well as state board of education appointments. To overcome this issue, i use a longitudinal dataset that allows me control for the fixed effects of state and years as well as individual-level variations in teacher beliefs about evolutionary theory.
Teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution also have less internal barriers. Going On this page is in line with the idea that more experienced faculty are less likely to be hesitant about evolution-related topics in the classroom, and could be more likely to employ strategies such as the reconciliatory method known to increase undergraduate students' acceptance of evolution.