Catherine Candisky, "Evolution Debate Re-Emerges:
Ohio teacher's dissertation under Darwinist attack; "Columbus Dispatch" (Ohio) June 9, 2005 Thursday, Home Final Edition, Pg. 01C.
"Columbus Dispatch" (Ohio) June 9, 2005 Thursday, Home Final Edition; Pg. 01C
EVOLUTION DEBATE RE-EMERGES ;
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Doctoral student's work was possibly unethical, OSU professors argue<strong>
Catherine Candisky, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A doctoral dissertation, of all things, is the latest lightning rod in the
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battle over teaching evolution in Ohio.<p>
Ohio State University is investigating the makeup of a committee set to
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review the graduate work of a Hilliard Davidson High School biology <br>
teacher. The panel is stacked with creationists and the research might be
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unethical, some OSU faculty members say.<p>
The teacher, Bryan Leonard, helped draft Ohio's plan calling for "critical
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analysis of evolution" in high-school science classes. More recently, he <br>
testified before the Kansas Board of Education, which is considering a
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similar proposal.<p>
Leonard's defense of his dissertation, required for his doctorate in
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science education, was postponed from Monday.<p>
Earle Holland, director of research communications for Ohio State, said the
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graduate school is reviewing the dissertation panel to ensure its <br>
membership is qualified and appropriate.
Privacy laws, he said, prevent the university from saying more.
The battle underscores the volatility of debate about the origins and
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development of life on Earth, which has erupted before school boards in <br>
Ohio, Kansas and elsewhere.
Educators are wrestling with how best to teach evolution and opposing ideas
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such as intelligent design -- the notion that life forms are too complex to <br>
be explained and that a higher power must have been involved.
Critics call intelligent design a thinly veiled version of creationism.
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They say it's a belief, not science, and shouldn't be taught in biology class.<p>
In general, dissertation committees are to consist of a student's faculty
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adviser, another professor in the student's field of study, a professor in <br>
the department from which the degree is being sought and a representative
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of the graduate school.<p>
"There is evidence that Mr. Leonard's dissertation committee has been
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improperly constituted and that his research may have involved unethical <br>
human-subject experimentation," three professors wrote Friday in a letter
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to Carole Anderson, interim dean of Ohio State's graduate school. The <br>
experimentation it refers to is the instruction of Leonard's high-school
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students.<p>
The letter is signed by Brian W. McEnnis, a mathematics professor; Jeffrey
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K. McKee, an anthropology professor; and Steve Rissing, an evolution, <br>
ecology and organismal biology professor.
The three have not read Leonard's research but based their comments on
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testimony he gave before the Kansas Board of Education last month, McKee said.<p>
The main research questions in Leonard's dissertation are: "When students
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are taught the scientific data both supporting and challenging <br>
macroevolution, do they maintain or change their beliefs over time? What
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empirical, cognitive andor social factors influence students' beliefs?"
The critics wrote, "We note a fundamental flaw: There are no valid
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scientific data challenging macroevolution. Mr. Leonard has been <br>
misinforming students if he teaches them otherwise. His thesis presents
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evidence that he has succeeded in persuading high school students to reject <br>
this fundamental principle of biology. As such, it involves deliberate
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miseducation of these students, a practice we regard as unethical."<p>
While Leonard's research concerns the teaching of evolution, no member of
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his dissertation committee is a science educator or evolutionary biologist, <br>
the three say.
Leonard declined to comment yesterday. Members of his dissertation
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committee either had no comment or didn't return telephone messages.<p>
His faculty adviser is Paul Post, an assistant professor in the College of
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Education. Also on the committee are professors Glen R. Needham, an <br>
entomology professor in the College of Biological Sciences, and Robert
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DiSilvestro, a professor of human nutrition in the College of Human Ecology.<p>
Jody F. Sjogren, co-founder of Science Excellence for All Ohioans, said
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evolutionists appear to be trying to shut down debate because they can't <br>
win and are quick to label anyone who challenges them as religious
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fundamentalists. Sjogren's group, formed during the debate before Ohio's <br>
State Board of Education, favors the teaching of intelligent design.
"I think people trying to hamper academic freedom are going to find
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themselves swimming upstream against public preference."<p>
But critics make a distinction between academic freedom and academic
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responsibility.<p>
"There are some real fine lines in terms of information a researcher can
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present," said Lynn Elfner, head of the Ohio Academy of Science.<p>
"By virtue of his testimony in Kansas, he is trying to influence public
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policy with research that has not passed muster in graduate school."<p>
Copyright 2005 The Columbus Dispatch