Scientism, creationism or category error? A cross-age survey of secondary school students’ perceptions of the relationships between science and religion.
One of my publications is:
Billingsley, B., Taber, K. S., & Nassaji, M. (2021). Scientism, creationism or category error? A cross-age survey of secondary school students’ perceptions of the relationships between science and religion. The Curriculum Journal, 32(2), 334-358. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.83
This article is open access:
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Abstract:
We report on a survey of 1717 students at two different points of their secondary school education. This survey is designed to discover their reasoning about scientific and religious accounts of the origins of the universe and life. The study was motivated by a concern, based on previous research, that factors such as the compartmentalised curriculum may limit students’ progression in interdisciplinary reasoning and their capacities to appreciate why science and religion are not necessarily incompatible.To investigate these matters, we gathered data in seven secondary schools in England. The findings indicated that a significant proportion of students are working with a poor understanding of the limits of science and of the range of scholarly positions on the nature of religious explanation. The implications of the results for educational theory and practice are discussed.
Keywords:
- science and religion
- worldviews
- student perceptions
- nature of science
- conceptual integration
- attitudes towards science
- attitudes towards religion
- epistemic insight
This paper derives from the LASAR (Learning about Science and Religion) project.
(Read about the LASAR project)
Content:
- Introduction
- Conceptual framework
- Scholarly perspectives on ways to relate science and religion
- Children’s views of science and religion
- Epistemological stances expressed in science education
- Religions and religious education in England
- Research methods
- Research questions
- Sample
- School information
- Religious background
- Analysis
- Findings
- What are students’ attitudes to scientific theories of origins?What are their attitudes to scientific theories for those who do and who do not believe in creation by God? And do these attitudes vary with age group?
- What are students’ perceptions of the power and limits of science? And do these perceptions vary with age group?
- To what extent do students think that science and religion offer contradicting narratives about how life and the universe came to be? And does this thinking vary with age group?
- Discussion
- Conclusion and recommendations
This article is open access:
Read the article on the publisher's website
