Preservice teachers: Future first responders in the evolution versus intelligent design battle

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) states that evolution is the unifying theme from which all biological science is to be organized and it is the basic principle that guides the majority of biology curricula in the American public school systems today. Previous research indicates a widespread lack of acceptance by the American public of the veracity of this theory and even less agreement that it should be taught as the only theory of human origins in the public schools. Many studies have also documented students' difficulties in learning, or accepting, the theory of evolution.;From the time of the Scopes trial in the 1920s, to landmark Supreme Court decisions in the seventies and eighties, the manner of how evolution should taught has been an issue of contention. The most recent challenge to evolution's putative privileged place is called the intelligent design movement which seeks recognition as a competing scientific theory in a way that scientific creationism was never able to be recognized.;While there has been much research conducted on the issue of student and teacher acceptance of the theory of evolution, until recently there have been few documented studies of the preservice teacher. To help fill this gap a survey based quantitative study of 330 preservice teachers from both a public and private Southern California university credentialing program was conducted. Their positions regarding the teaching of evolution in the public schools as well as their own beliefs about the importance of the issue were assessed. Results revealed that a majority (52%) was against the teaching of the theory of evolution as the only scientific theory of origins and that over 38% believed that intelligent design should be taught as an alternate or competing theory. Factors that identified this latter group were strongly held religious beliefs, a conservative political ideology, a low level of acceptance of the scientific consensus for the validity about the theory of evolution, and a misunderstanding regarding the nature of science (NOS).