Application of the liberal science for building a scientific worldview through accepting the theory of evolution as an integrated concept

Shin, Chu og

Korean Journal of General Education 2013;7(2):301-339.
Published online April 30, 2013.

Chu og Shin

통합개념으로써 생물진화론을 수용하여 과학적 세계관을 형성하기 위한 목표로 구성된 교양과학 수업의 적용

신주옥

Abstract

After the completion of the liberal science course for life science non-major college students, the effect of the course was investigated. The course, targeted building a scientific worldview through accepting the theory of evolution as an integrated concept, was planned to resolve the emotional and perceptional conflicts occurring during the class time devoted to the theory of evolution, and for establishing the identities of science and religion. The curriculum was comprised of the contents of a mixed-style science textbook used in public high school education, as well as evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology. The contents included the origins of the universe, the substance, the life, and the evolution of life, mankind, human nature and human s religious nature, as well as the nature of science and religion. The degree of perceptional conflicts during the acceptance of the theory of evolution and the degree of change to a scientific worldview according to the personal religious backgrounds were investigated via survey inspection. Protestant Christian students displayed strong conflicts in accepting the theory of evolution before taking the class. After class, they continued to resist an understanding of the concept of evolution and a change toward a scientific worldview as compared to Catholic Christian, Buddhist and Atheist students. Dependent on religious background, the perception of the reliability of the theory of evolution, and the degree of change toward a scientific worldview increased after taking the class. Therefore, this course could helpful to reach the educational goal of building a scientific worldview through accepting the theory of evolution as an integrated concept.

Key Words: liberal science, accept the theory of evolution, integrated concept, scientific worldview, evolutionary psychology, the evolution of human s religious nature