creationism
tfk | March 25, 2009Mohlman defended science education, Wade Warren backed the creationist S&W language. He can't work through why people oppose S&W.
Victoria Huang explains that evolution is key to medicine, agriculture, etc.
McLeroy is after her over language in the 21st Century Science statement, which she didn't sign, but basically agrees with.
Audris Zidermanis is speaking too softly to hear. She's got some sort of quotemine going on, though.
tfk | March 25, 2009Josh Rosenau just spoke, and boy was he brilliant! I felt like I was racing, but I'm told that I didn't trip over myself the way Casey did. I've got tape of the whole thing, so we'll see shortly.
Here's what I said:
Mr. Chairman, members of the Board, thank you for the chance to speak with you about the draft science TEKS.
The science TEKS on the books now were given _an F_ in a 2005 survey of state science standards by the politically conservative Thomas Fordham Institute, noting that "they produce breadth of assertion instead of depth of understanding."
The TEKS presented by your expert…
tfk | March 25, 2009Daniel is a member of TAMEST, an association of Nobelists and members of NAS/IOM/NAE. Our statement is irreconcilable with the amendments offered.
Science is awesome, and Texas has a lot to offer, he points out. We're trying to recruit top people. S&W are understood as code-words, which will spook good scientists.
Various discussion of S&W, etc. McLeroy doesn't seem to be reiterating his anti-NAS rhetoric.
He's defending the "analyze and evaluate" language, making clear that it doesn't allow one-sided indoctrination, but neither does it require presenting bogus silliness just to…
tfk | March 25, 2009STAT and TABT issue a joint statement against S&W, remove January amendments. Detailed critique of the amendments, worrying about appropriateness and new testing requirements which might arise. Adopt the TEKS as presented by writing committees.
Emphasizes that gaps are not weaknesses in a theory.
Hardy: "I am concerned" about how much time is spent on evolution. 3 days. But we talk about it all year long.
Dunbar: Do you omit weaknesses to make time for strengths?
Robert Crowther is replaced by Casey Luskin. "Greetings!," he begins, omitting "earthlings!" He whines about treatment…
tsmith | March 25, 2009Apparently, I'm infamous. From yesterday's Ames Tribune (below the fold):
Challenging the gang of three
The Evolution Academic Freedom Act HF 183 introduced Feb. 3 by Rod Roberts (R-Carroll) has come under attack by the infamous gang of three, namely Hector Avalos, of Iowa State University; and James W. Demostes and Tara C. Smith, of the University of Iowa.
HF 183 states that college and high school teachers often suffer discrimination or punishment for questioning evolution. The gang of three, who are godless atheists, want to push their agenda on the teachers and students at our schools…
tfk | March 25, 2009Austen Williams, who identifies herself as Mrs. Arlington, Mrs. Texas, is bothered that she was taught evolution "dogmatically." She has a "burning desire to know."
"I just want to learn things."
Leo and Cargill are very impressed. She learned about IC in an archaeology course. Studying early bacterial cultures?
tfk | March 25, 2009Colin White, a student, thinks textbooks suck because they don't invent weaknesses of evolution.
Insulted by people who think high school students don't know everything. Or something.
Mercer: Students are great.
Leo: "By presenting only one side, would you say that students out there might walk away not knowing that there are weaknesses?" Colin and Leo agree that some students learned bogus creationist nonsense at home, so it ought to be taught in school, too. Colin isn't terribly cogent, which doesn't really support his claim that students are sophisticated enough to handle the complex…
tfk | March 25, 2009Melinda Mells has won a ton of teaching awards in science education. "My task as a science teacher is to ensure that my students have … a solid foundation to build upon in future science courses. … Your task as board members is to ensure that science, and only science, is taught in science classes."
Then we get into Francis Bacon.
There's some sort of fight between Cargill (?) and Mells about the nature of "theory."
Bill Vinal: Speaks about physics and chemistry, then we'll have a 15 minute break. He thinks there's too much calculation.
tfk | March 25, 2009I was as surprised as anyone that according to Texas Education Agency, Josh Rosenau and Eugenie Scott of NCSE Now Support “Strengths and Weaknesses” in Texas Science Standards, but John West's response is utterly hackish:
Did Rosenau and Scott misrepresent their positions in an attempt to get a better slot to speak? Or did they simply misunderstand what they were being asked? Or were TEA officials so oblivious that they somehow didn’t know that the NCSE is the leading national group opposing the teaching of strengths and weaknesses in Texas? It will be interesting to find out the truth.…
tfk | March 25, 2009President-elect of Austin Geological Society. PhD from UT, masters from Cambridge "hence my strange accent."
Reads a letter from Geol. Soc. They reiterate NAS definition of science: "The use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through this process." Asks that amendments from January be dropped. Don't blur the boundary between science and pseudoscience.
No questions.
Ewert: Insists that his work on bacteria proves that evolution is wrong. Bacteria stay bacteria, etc. Not if you ask Richard Lenski. Anyway…
tfk | March 25, 2009White wants S&W. He insists that there are credible alternatives to evolution. Thinks that random mutation can't add mutations. Do these people not read the Index of Creationist Claims? Claims evolution is a sacrosanct icon.
Leo: What do you say to people who think these things belong only in college? He thinks its bad! Shocker!
Martha Griffin: "Keeping our science standards strong." Went to college with Cargill, teacher and museum educator. Mentors science teachers. Backs ESS and Biology TEKS without amendments and without S&W. People who respect actual knowledge and…
tfk | March 25, 2009ESS writing committee member Sharon Mosher calls for them to reverse the bogus changes. Calling for students to "assess the arguments for and against universal common descent in light of the fossil evidence" is nonsense, she says, because it requires teachers to "manufacture arguments that don't exist."
BTW, Ray Bohlin's biological research apparently includes work on questions about whether pole-dancing is OK for believers. I imagine there was a lot of field work for that. I wonder if the Biologic Institute will take up that important work.
Deborah Koeck, member of the Chemistry TEKS…
tfk | March 25, 2009Ray Bohlin, Disco. fellow and head of Probe Ministries (Motto: "Touched by a being from above!") is about to speak. On the group's front page, there is a story asking: "Is Masturbation A Sin?" Guess what he decides!
Doesn't have written testimony. "I'll be reading from a recent evolution text."
He insists there are limits to change. Which is true in some sense, but it isn't really meaningful. Those limits are vastly more expansive than what is required to explain the diversity of life.
Quotes Jerry Coyne on the difference between artificial and natural selection.
Runs out of time,…
tfk | March 25, 2009Texas oilman Kyle Lewallen is building toward something, I guess. He hasn't actually made an argument yet. Ah, he was on the writing committee, and is offering their suggested revisions for the Earth and Space Science TEKS. They don't like amendments offered last time around by the Board, who didn't consult their expert writing committee before mucking with the text.
NCSE has been pushing simply to reverse those amendments, but the committee is offering revisions which might be easier for the Board to stomach.
Dunbar and Lewallen are going back and forth over the amendments to ESS TEKS 4…
tfk | March 25, 2009Sally Wall, a teacher, insists that the TEKS are about laying a foundation for future study, and the S&W language is distracting from that. "My job is not to fight cultural wars."
Tell that to Chairman McLeroy, who urges "Enlisting in the culture war."
No questions.
Randy Linder then insists that they should drop the S&W language. He worries that that language opens the door to nonscientific ideas like ID creationism. Carries on explaining why ID doesn't belong. He does well, but the Board will deny having any interest in ID.
Cargill whines that they weren't alternating between…
tfk | March 25, 2009FYI, TFN is liveblogging, as is Steve Schafersman.
Check out the audio feed at the TEA website.
Cherry Moore, supporting S&W, claims that the Great Unconformity is a weakness in the geological explanation of the Grand Canyon. Sadly, no!
Terri Leo sez that all discoveries are made because of weaknesses. But this is silliness. First, students in high school aren't generally in the business of conducting groundbreaking research. Second, that's a strange twist on the process of science.
It took less than 45 minutes for the Board to start getting snippy.
tfk | March 25, 2009Textbook author Juli Berwald is explaining why evolution rocks. Will she get any questions?
The Board just spent 10 minutes questioning a teacher who happened to back S&W, even though she's got far fewer credentials.
Yes! Dunbar asks who she writes for. Then wonders if the new "analyze and evaluate" language would allow S&W. Berwald doesn't think there's evidence against evolution, so she wouldn't know how to insert "weaknesses." Claims there's ambiguity.
Mercer: Claims that S&W has been in the standards for 20 years in everything. Bogus.
Leo: Gimme an example of…
tfk | March 25, 2009According to Terri Leo, Genie favored the strengths and weaknesses language in November. This is false. Not only does she oppose that language now, as she did in November, she wasn't here in November.
Why must people bear false witness?
tfk | March 25, 2009I was originally scheduled to go third, but overnight I was bumped to 34th, after Disco. spinner Rob Crowther.
Last time I did this, you got all my cursing and swearing, but I'll try to restrict myself to commentary a bit more.
Right now, a teacher named Lee Wagstaff is holding forth in favor of the creationist "strengths and weaknesses," and getting lots of questions, including questions referring to an earlier speaker who got no questions. These are questions that the expert chosen to help actually write the science TEKS would have had great insights into, but they asked her nothing.…
gregladen | March 24, 2009This just in from the NCSE:
The future of science education in Texas is on the line. The Texas Board of Education, after two previous contentious public hearings on high school science standards (TEKS), meets March 25-27 for its final vote.
As you may recall, at the previous meeting (January 23rd), the board voted to remove "strengths and weaknesses" wording from the science standards. That was a win for science. However, the Board took a big step backwards by allowing creationists to insert bogus attacks on evolution in the Earth and Space Science standards and the Biology standards…