Why Do Creationist Beliefs Hinder Earth History Education?
• Student learning is heavily influenced by the prior knowledge they bring into the classroom with them (Schneps and Sadler, 1988 , NRC, 2000 ). Instructors need to find some way to engage students’ initial beliefs about Earth history so that they will be able to learn new material. • Modern people need an understanding of how Earth changes over time because human beings now drive some of these changes and because we are affected by them. They need to understand extinction, genetic engineering, and resistance to antibiotics, among other topics, and this is not possible without a strong background in evolution. • Some creationists are trying to make it difficult for public schools to teach Earth history concepts like evolution and a geologic timescale that goes back millions (even billions) of years. Voters and teachers need to understand science so that evolution will continue to be taught in public schools and will be taught well.
