Evolution Research

I have the awesome opportunity to do research this semester and next, with a fully legit, IRB approved study looking at evolution teaching pedagogy.  And...even better.... I will get to write my own IRB proposal, do interviews with students, then next semester I will analyze the data, and present the results at a conference next summer!  (Happy Dance!)

The study is to look at students' perceptions of evolution, and how those change or don't change over a semester of learning about evolution.  Oh my gosh this is going to be great.  It will hopefully give excellent data on how to effectively teach evolution, which will be so valuable!  In particular, for my part, I want to see if it's possible to teach it in such a way that students don't feel like they have to become atheist or lose their religious faith in order to accept evolution.  That is a very pertinent thing for me to know especially as a future teacher in Utah County.