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Biblical Literalism and the Acceptance of Biological Evolution in Christian University Students

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Biblical Literalism and the Acceptance of Biological Evolution in Christian University Students University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Dissertations and Theses @ UNI Student Work 2015 Biblical literalism and the acceptance of biological evolution in Christian university students Heather N. Chamberlain University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2015 Heather N. Chamberlain Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd Part of the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Recommended Citation Chamberlain, Heather N., "Biblical literalism and the acceptance of biological evolution in Christian university students" (2015). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 210. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/210 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses @ UNI by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright by HEATHER N CHAMBERLAIN 2015 All Rights Reserved BIBLICAL LITERALISM AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION IN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Heather N Chamberlain University of Northern Iowa December 2015 ABSTRACT Is it possible to accept biological evolution without rejecting God? Understanding student perspectives about religious belief and biological evolution is important to effectively teach science. There are many factors in this complex relationship and this study explored three: differences in Christian denominations, interpretation of scripture, and perspectives of the relationship between religious belief with acceptance of evolution. The participants were freshman elementary education majors at a Midwest university who completed a questionnaire about religious beliefs and the Inventory of Student Evolution Acceptance (I-SEA). The results indicated no significant difference between Christian denomination and acceptance of evolution. Participants who took the Bible literally differed significantly from their non-literal peers in terms of acceptance of evolution. As expected, those who believed the Bible was the word of God and took it literally had a lower acceptance than those who did not believe the Bible was the word of God and did not take it literally. Finally, there was a high rate of acceptance but students reasoned with both incorrect and correct science. In conclusion, is a relationship between understanding and acceptance of evolution for this population? The moderate levels of acceptance and understanding found in this population may be due to conflicting support for evolution from authority figures, like churches and instructors. Instructors must know both correct science and student religious perspectives to teach evolution effectively. BIBLICAL LITERALISM AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION IN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Heather N Chamberlain University of Northern Iowa December 2015 ii This Study by: Heather N Chamberlain Entitled: Biblical Literalism and the Acceptance of Biological Evolution In Christian University Students has been approved as meeting the thesis requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in Science Education ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. John Ophus, Chair, Thesis Committee ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Jill Maroo, Thesis Committee Member ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Susan Hill, Thesis Committee Member ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. James Demastes, Thesis Committee Member ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Kavita Dhanwada, Interim Dean, Graduate College iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................4 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................4 Biological Evolution ......................................................................................................7 Creationism and Intelligent Design ...............................................................................8 Word and National Context of Teaching Evolution ......................................................9 Teaching Evolution ......................................................................................................13 Childhood Origins of Resistance to Science ..........................................................13 Process of Learning Evolution ..............................................................................14 Source Credibility ............................................................................................15 Religious Factors Affecting Acceptance of Evolution ..........................................15 Non-religious Factors Affecting Acceptance of Evolution ...................................21 Factors Not Affecting Acceptance of Evolution ....................................................24 Research Questions ......................................................................................................27 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................28 Question Development.................................................................................................28 Instrument ....................................................................................................................28 iv Participants ...................................................................................................................31 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................31 Instrument Administration ...........................................................................................32 Data Coding .................................................................................................................32 Denominational Acceptance ..................................................................................32 Literalist Acceptance .............................................................................................33 Religious Worldview and Acceptance ...................................................................34 I-SEA .....................................................................................................................36 Statistical Analysis .......................................................................................................36 Denominational Acceptance ..................................................................................36 Literalist Acceptance .............................................................................................38 Religious Worldview and Acceptance ...................................................................38 I-SEA .....................................................................................................................39 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS ...................................................................................................40 Denominational Acceptance ........................................................................................40 Religious Affiliation and I-SEA, t-test ..................................................................41 Literalist Acceptance ...................................................................................................42 Scripture Interpretation and I-SEA, ANOVA ........................................................43 Religious Worldview and Acceptance .........................................................................45 Frequencies of Acceptance of Evolution Themes .................................................45 Frequencies of Reasoning Themes ........................................................................46 v I-SEA ..........................................................................................................................50 CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION .............................................................................................51 Denominational Acceptance ........................................................................................51 Literalist Acceptance ...................................................................................................52 Religious Worldview and Acceptance .........................................................................53 Study Limitations .........................................................................................................56 Limitations of the I-SEA ........................................................................................57 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION...........................................................................................59 Significance and Future Study .....................................................................................59
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