Is "critical analysis of evolution" appropriate for biology lessons
Is "critical analysis of evolution" appropriate for biology lessons
Objective science
Several state legislatures have introduced bills mandating "critical analysis of evolution" in high school biology curricula. The proponents of these bills are fundamentalist religious groups not science organizations. These groups apparently wish to introduce pseudoscientific alternatives to evolution and encourage students to discuss them.
This approach has the potential to mislead students not only about the content of science, but also about the nature of science. Not only are "alternatives to evolution" nonscientific, but discussing alternatives is a nonscientific approach to scientific problem solving. Scientific content should reflect consensus of the scientific literature. The approach to distinguishing among alternatives should involve creating and testing hypotheses. Fluency in science requires developing analytical skills rather than argumentation skills.
Science curricula should encourage formal reasoning skills and must explicity discourage rationalizing.