Truth in Science

On Friday, Times Educational Supplement Scotland reported Truth in Science’s distribution of DVDs in Scotland. The story was picked up by BBC Radio Scotland who interviewed a Scottish supporter of intelligent design.

An international survey into the relevance of science education provided the cover article of TESS on the 2 February. It found a general problem that currently “most secondary pupils are neither interested nor motivated by science”. The TESS article continued:

In another key finding, pupils showed a significant lack of trust in what scientists had to say – which the authors described as "a wake-up call" to the profession to debate scientific controversies in more carefully measured and objective terms.

The debate about the future direction of the science curriculum comes as The TESS reveals that the organisation Truth in Science is lobbying science teachers across all Scottish secondary schools to include its "intelligent design" materials in their teaching.

The organisation argues against wholesale acceptance of "neo-Darwinist" theories based on natural selection, claiming instead that "science can identify features of the natural world that are best explained by an intelligent cause".

A spokesman for the Scottish executive said that the survey “provides a useful ‘snapshot’ of the attitudes of young people towards science. The Scottish Executive has provided funding to allow the report’s authors to work with the Scottish Science Centres Network to provide advice when developing new workshops, and activities to make science exciting for their visitors.”

The work of Truth in Science was reported the same day on BBC Radio Scotland’s programme ‘Newsdrive’. Scottish education consultant Dr Alastair Noble explained what intelligent design is and why he supports the use of the DVD “Where does the Evidence Lead?” in the classroom. A recording can be heard here, 43 minutes into the programme (available until 9 February).