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Evolution Korea The financial crisis that hit Asia led to a major rethinking of the traditional system of government, business alliances, and public management of risk. In Korea this meant a change in the model of development. In a controversial decision, South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers to ignore calls to remove examples of evolution in science books for high school students. This includes the evidence for evolution of horses and the Avian ancestral Archaeopteryx. 1. Evolution and Religion A creationist group in South Korea has successfully convinced textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent branch of the Korea Association for Creation Research that aims to cleanse biology textbooks of “atheist materialism,” was behind the move. The STR claims that such materialism paints an unhopeful picture for students and leads to their eventual loss of faith. When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists across the world expressed alarm. Jae Choe, evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul and wrote an open letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed by colleagues from across the country who formed a group called Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition. Some researchers are concerned that the STR campaign will spread to other parts of the world where the belief in creationism is on the rise. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution movement putting more pressure on textbook revisions, specifically in countries with large Christian and Muslim population. South Korea's culture is particularly strong for the debate over evolution. 26 percent of the country's residents belong to one of the religious groups, and most adhere to Christianity or Buddhism. In addition, many Koreans adhere to the philosophy of Ch'ondogyo. It is founded on Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony and individual self-cultivation. Ch'ondogyo is a belief system that teaches that humans are one with Hanulnim the God of the Sun, and that heaven-bound blessings are possible through the good deeds of a person. All of this has made creationism a fertile field. Numerous studies have found that students who have religious backgrounds to be more reluctant to learn about evolution than those who do not. The reasons behind this aren't clear. One possible explanation is that students who have religious beliefs tend to be as knowledgeable about scientific theories and concepts, which makes them more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another factor could be that those with religious backgrounds may see evolution as a belief system that is not a religion, which makes them feel less comfortable. 2. Evolution and Science In recent years, anti-evolution programs in schools have raised concern in the scientific community. A survey in 2009 revealed that 40 percent of Americans believed that biological evolution was not true and that it would conflict their religious beliefs. Many scientists believe that, despite the popularity of creationism the best way to stop this movement is to educate the public on the evidence for evolution. Scientists are required to instruct their students in science including the theory of evolution. They should also inform people about the scientific process and how knowledge is collected and validated. They should also explain that theories of science are often challenged and revised. However, misconceptions about nature and purpose of scientific research can lead to a negative view of evolution. Some people interpret the term “theory” as a hunch, or a guess. However, in science theories are rigorously tested and verified through evidence. A theory that is able to withstand repeated testing and observation becomes a scientific principle. The debate about the evolutionary theory provides a great occasion to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is essential that people understand that science does not provide answers to questions about life's purpose or meaning, but provides a mechanism for living things to grow and adapt. A well-rounded education should also include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs that people hold and the decisions they make require a understanding of how science works. The majority of scientists around the world accept that humans have evolved over time. In a recent study, which predicted the opinions of adults about the consensus around this issue those with higher levels of education and knowledge of science were found to be more likely believe that there is wide agreement among scientists about the evolution of humans. The people who have more religious beliefs but less scientific knowledge tend to be more divided. It is crucial that teachers insist on the importance of knowing the general consensus on this issue to ensure that people have a solid basis for making informed decisions regarding their health care, energy use and other policy issues. 3. Evolution and Culture Cultural evolution is a cousin of the popular evolutionary theory. It examines the ways that humans and other species learn from each other. Researchers in this area use explanation tools and models derived from evolutionary theorists. extra resources go back to human prehistory to find the origins of culture. This method also acknowledges that there are differences between biological and cultural characteristics. Cultural traits are acquired slowly, whereas biological traits are mostly inherited at the same time (in the case of sexual species after fertilization). As a result, the acquisition of one characteristic can affect the development of another. In Korea, for example, the adoption of Western fashion elements in the late 19th century and the early 20th centuries was the result of a variety of events. One of the most significant was the arrival in Korea of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western clothing and hairstyles. Then, when Japan left Korea in the 1930s, some of these trends began to change. By the end of World War II, Korea had once again unified, this time under the rule of the Choson dynasty. Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the recent financial crisis, Korea's economy has been growing steadily over the last decade. It is expected to continue this growth in the coming years. The current government is confronted with many challenges. The inability of the government to come up with a coherent plan to address the current economic crisis is one of the biggest obstacles. The crisis has revealed weaknesses in the country's policies, especially its over-reliance on foreign investment and exports that may not last. The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors. In the aftermath, the government has to reconsider its approach and find ways to increase domestic demand. It will also have to overhaul the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems that are in place to guarantee the stability of the financial system. This chapter outlines several scenarios of how the Korean economy might develop after the crisis. 4. Evolution and Education A fundamental challenge for educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts in a manner that is appropriate for students of different levels of development and ages. Teachers need to, for instance be mindful of the religious diversity in their classrooms and create a welcoming environment where students of both religious and secular perspectives feel comfortable. Teachers must be able to recognize common misconceptions regarding evolution and know how to address them in the classroom. Teachers must also have access to a range of resources to teach evolution and be able to find them quickly. In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was an important step in bringing together evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of disciplines to discuss best methods for teaching evolution. The participants included representatives from scientific societies, educational researchers, officials of government funding agencies and curriculum designers. The convergence of these diverse groups led to the identification of a common set of recommendations that will form the basis for future actions. A key recommendation is that the teaching of evolution should be integrated in every science curriculum at every level. To accomplish this it is recommended that the National Science Education Standards (NRC) require that evolution be taught in an integrated way across the life sciences with a progression of concepts that are developmental appropriate. A new publication from the NRC provides guidelines to schools about how to integrate evolution into the life science curriculum. Numerous studies have demonstrated that a more complete presentation of evolution leads to greater student understanding and belief in the concept of evolution. However the estimation of the causal impact of teaching in the classroom is difficult given that school curricula are not assigned randomly and change over time as a result of the predetermined timing of gubernatorial elections and appointments to the state board of education. To overcome this limitation I utilize an ongoing data set that allows me to control for state and year fixed effects as well as individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers about evolution. Teachers who are more comfortable in teaching evolution have fewer internal barriers. This is in line with the idea that more confident faculty are less likely to avoid teaching about evolution in the classroom, and may be more inclined to employ strategies like a reconciliatory method which is used to increase the students' understanding of evolution.