Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept across Asia caused a major review of the traditional system of government, business alliances, as well as public management of risk. In Korea this meant a shift in the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision, South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers to ignore calls to eliminate 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 South Korean creationist group has convinced textbook publishers to eliminate evidence of evolution from high-school science texts. The move was a result of a campaign by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research, which wants to rid biology books of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialism creates negative images to students, causing them to be skeptical.
Scientists across the globe expressed worry when the STR campaign made headlines. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul wrote in an email to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues from all over the country, who formed a group called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some scientists are worried about the possibility that the STR campaign could spread to other regions of the world, where the prevalence of creationism is rising. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolution movement could increase pressure for textbook revisions in other countries, especially those with strong Christian and Muslim populations.
South Korea's culture is particularly strong in the debate on evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans are part of a religious community and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, a philosophy based upon Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony, individual self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo is a belief system that teaches that humans are in a relationship with Hanulnim, the God of the Sun, and that heavenly blessings are possible through good works.
please click for source of this has made creationism fertile field. Numerous studies have revealed that students who have religious backgrounds tend to feel more uncomfortable about learning about evolution than students without religion. The underlying causes of this phenomenon are not known. Students who have a religious background might be less familiar with scientific theories, making them more susceptible to creationists influence. Another factor could be that students with religious backgrounds might view evolution as a concept that is not a religion, which makes them feel less comfortable.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution programs in schools have raised concern among the scientific community. A survey in 2009 revealed that 40% of Americans believed that biological evolution was a myth and that it would be in conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the success of creationism in some states, a lot of scientists believe that the best method to combat this inclination is not to actively engage in with it, but rather inform people about the evidence for evolution.
Scientists are required to teach their students about science, including the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the research process and how knowledge is validated. They should explain how theories of science are often challenged and revised. However, misconceptions regarding the nature of scientific research frequently cause people to believe that evolution is not real.
For example, some people may confuse the word "theory" with the everyday meaning of the word - a hunch or a guess. However, in science the theory is rigorously tested and verified with empirical evidence. A theory that survives repeated testing and observation is a scientific concept.
The debate on evolution theory is an excellent chance to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limits. It is crucial for people to recognize that science cannot answer questions about the meaning or meaning of life, it only serves as a mechanism through which living organisms can grow and change.
A comprehensive education should include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs that people hold and the choices they make require understanding of how science functions.
The vast majority of scientists across the world agree that humans have changed over time. In a recent study, which predicted the opinions of adults about the consensus around this issue people with higher levels of education and scientific knowledge were found to be more likely to believe that there is a broad consensus among scientists on human evolution. People with a higher level of religious belief but less knowledge of science tend to be more divided. It is essential that educators insist on knowing the general consensus on this issue to ensure that people have a solid basis for making informed decisions about their health care, energy usage, and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
A close relative to mainstream evolutionary theory, cultural evolution focuses on the various ways that humans and other species learn from and interact with one another. Researchers in this field use explanatory models and investigative tools adapted from those used by evolutionary theorists. they look back to human prehistory to find out the origins of our capacity to learn about culture.
This method also acknowledges the distinction between cultural and biological traits. While biological traits are typically acquired in one go (in sexual species, after fertilization) but cultural traits can be acquired over a long period of time. The acquisition of a cultural characteristic can affect the development and growth of a different.
In Korea the introduction of Western styles in the late nineteenth and early 20th century was the result of a complex sequence of events. One of the most important was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and styles of clothing to Korean society.
Then, when Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, some of those trends began to reverse. At the close of World War II, Korea was once again united and again under the Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant economic and political power. Despite the recent financial crisis the economy of Korea has been growing at a steady pace over the last decade. It is anticipated to continue to grow in the near future.
The current government is faced with many challenges. One of the most significant is the inability to come up with a consistent policy to address the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed weaknesses of the country's economic policies, mainly its overreliance on foreign investment and exports that may not be sustainable over the long term.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. In the aftermath, the government has to rethink its strategy and find ways to increase domestic demand. It also needs to reform the incentive, monitoring, and disciplining systems that are currently in place to create an environment that is stable for the financial sector. This chapter offers a number of scenarios of how the Korean economy might develop in the post-crisis era.
4. Evolution and Education
The biggest challenge for evolution educators is how to teach evolutionary concepts in a manner that is appropriate for students at various ages and developmental stages. For example, teachers must be sensitive to the religious diversity of their classrooms and create an environment that students who have religious and secular beliefs feel comfortable learning evolution. Additionally, teachers must understand the most common misconceptions about evolution and how to deal with these in their classrooms. Finally, teachers must have access to a variety of resources that are available for teaching evolution and be able locate them quickly.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played a significant role in bringing together evolutionary researchers and educators from different sectors to discuss the best practices for teaching Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, government funding agency officials and curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse stakeholders led to the identification of a common set of recommendations that will form the basis for future actions.
One of the most important recommendations is that the study of evolution should be integrated in every science curriculum at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) that call for the integration of evolution across all life sciences with an educational progression that is developmental appropriate, are a good method to achieve this goal. Furthermore, a new publication from the NRC offers guidelines to schools on how they can integrate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Multiple studies have proven that a more complete presentation of evolution is linked to a greater understanding of students and belief in the concept of evolution. It is difficult to determine the causality of teaching in the classroom since school curricula do not change in a random manner and are affected by the timing of state boards of education and gubernatorial elections. To overcome this issue, i use an ongoing dataset that gives me to control the fixed effects of state and years 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 hypothesis that more experienced faculty are less likely to be hesitant about teaching about evolution in the classroom. They may also be more inclined to use strategies such as a reconciliatory approach that is known to boost the students' understanding of evolution.