Evolution Korea
The economic crisis that swept across Asia prompted a major reappraisal the old system of government and business alliances, as well as public management of risk. In Korea, that meant a shift in the development paradigm.
In a controversial decision, South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers to ignore requests to remove examples of evolution in science books for high school students. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses as well as the bird ancestral Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from high-school science texts. This was the result of a campaign by the Society for Textbook Revise (STR), an independent affiliate of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to clear biology textbooks of "atheist materialism." The STR claims that such materialism creates an image of negativity for students, causing them to lose faith.
When the STR's campaign made the news, scientists around the globe expressed concern. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul, complained in an open letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed up by colleagues around the country, who set up a group called Evolution Korea to organize a petition against the textbook changes.
Some scientists are worried that the STR could spread to other parts around the globe, where the belief in creationism has been growing. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution campaign increasing pressure on textbook revisions, specifically in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
The South Korean culture is particularly strong for the evolution debate. 26 percent of South Koreans are members of a religious group with the majority of them practicing 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 teaches that the human being is one with Hanulnim, the God of Sun, and that divine blessings are achievable through the good works of one's.
All of this has created an ideal environment for the spread of creationism. Numerous studies have found that students who have religious backgrounds to be more uncomfortable learning about evolution than those who don't. The underlying causes are not clear. One reason is that students with a religious background tend not to be as familiar with scientific theories and concepts and are therefore more susceptible to the influence of creationists. Another possibility is that students with religious backgrounds are more likely to view evolution as a religious concept which could make them less comfortable with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years, campaigns against evolution in schools have raised concerns among the scientific community. A 2009 survey revealed that over 40 percent of Americans believe that biological evolution is wrong and that a belief in it would be contrary to their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that despite the popularity of creationism the best way to counter this belief is to educate the public on the evidence for evolution.
Scientists are responsible for teaching their students science that includes the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the science process and how knowledge is collected and confirmed. They must also explain that scientific theories are frequently challenged and reformulated. However, misconceptions about the nature of research conducted by scientists often cause people to believe that evolution is not real.
Many people mistake the term "theory" as a guess, or a guess. However, in science, a theory is rigorously tested and verified with evidence. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed is then a scientific principle.
The debate over evolutionary theory is an excellent opportunity to discuss the significance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is essential that people understand that science does not answer questions about the purpose of life or meaning, but rather offers a way for living things to evolve and adapt.
Moreover, a well-rounded education should include exposure to the vast majority of scientific fields, including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs people are employed in and the decisions they make require understanding of how science works.
The vast majority scientists in the world agree that humans have evolved over time. A recent study predicting adults' view 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 general consensus among scientists about human evolution. Those with more religious faith but less scientific knowledge tend to be more divided. It is crucial that educators emphasize the importance of gaining an understanding of this consensus, so that people can make informed choices about the use of energy, health care and other issues of policy.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a close cousin of the mainstream evolutionary theory. It examines how organisms like humans learn from one another. Researchers in this field employ explanatory models and investigative tools adapted from those used by evolutionary theorists, and they reach back into human prehistory to find out the origins of our capacity to learn about culture.
This method also acknowledges the differences between biological and cultural characteristics. Cultural traits are acquired slowly while biological traits are usually acquired simultaneously (in the case of sexual species after fertilization). The acquisition of one cultural characteristic can affect the development and growth of a different.
In 무료에볼루션 of Western elements of style in the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth century was the result of an elaborate sequence of events. One of the most significant was the arrival of Japanese occupation forces, who introduced Western hairstyles and styles of clothing to Korean society.
When Japan departed Korea in the 1930s, some of those trends began to reverse. At the end of World War II, Korea was once more united and again under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the financial crisis of recent the economy of Korea has been growing consistently over the past decade. It is expected to continue this growth in the near future.
However, the current government has many challenges to face. The inability of the government to come up with a coherent plan to deal with the current economic crisis is one the biggest obstacles. The crisis has exposed shortcomings in the policies of the country and its reliance on foreign investment and exports which could not last.
The financial crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. As a result, the government needs to rethink its strategy and find other ways to increase domestic demand. It also needs to revamp the incentive monitoring, monitoring, and discipline systems in place to guarantee a stable financial environment. This chapter outlines several 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 present evolutionary concepts in a way that is suitable for students of different levels of development and ages. Teachers, for instance, must be aware of the religious diversity of their classrooms and create a setting where students with religious and secular beliefs feel comfortable in learning about evolution. Teachers must be able to recognize common misconceptions regarding evolution and be able to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have easy access to the many resources to teach evolution.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played a significant role in bringing together evolutionary researchers and educators from various sectors to discuss best practices for teaching Evolution. The participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational researchers, officials from government funding agencies as well as curriculum developers. The convergence of diverse participants helped to identify some common guidelines that will form the foundation for future actions.
One important recommendation is that the subject of evolution should be integrated in all science curricula at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) which require the integration of evolution across all life sciences with an educational progression that is developmental appropriate, are one way to achieve this goal. A new publication from the NRC provides guidance to schools about how to incorporate evolution into the life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have shown that a more comprehensive teaching of evolution is associated with greater student knowledge and belief in evolution. However the estimation of the causal impact of teaching in the classroom is challenging due to the fact that school curriculums are not randomly assigned and change over time because of the predetermined timeframe of gubernatorial elections as well as state board of education appointments. To overcome this limitation, I use a longitudinal data set that allows me to control for state and year fixed effects and individual-level variation in teacher beliefs about the evolution of their curriculum.
Teachers who are more comfortable in teaching evolution report fewer internal barriers. This is in line with the hypothesis that more experienced faculty are less likely to avoid evolution-related topics in the classroom, and may be more inclined to employ strategies like a reconciliatory method that is known to boost the students' understanding of evolution.