FASTLY - Faith & Science Teaching

Testing the Web

In Brief

This engages students in an activity evaluating online resources related to Christian discussion of faith and science questions about origins. As well as helping students to understand the range of views in such resources, the activity introduces some basic ways of evaluating websites.

Goals

Students will understand the diversity of online resources focused on faith and science questions about origins.

Students will become familiar with some basic ways of evaluating online sources.

Thinking Ahead

It is increasingly common for people, including students, to search the internet for answers to all kinds of questions. Helping students realize that internet sources need to be evaluated for bias, and likely reliability, is important in helping them establish responsible truth-seeking practices. Helping them see and evaluate the range of views shaping online presentation on the topic of origins can help them understand the shape of the discussion in the wider Christian community.

You will need to work through this exercise yourself before assigning it to students, in order to familiarize yourself with what they are likely to find. Requiring students to think critically about what is being advocated, and by whom, will help them develop the wisdom and discernment necessary for their future learning.

Relevant Book Review: Coming to Peace with Science: Bridging the Worlds Between Faith and Biology by Darrell R. Falk

Preparing the Activity

Needed:

• Internet access for students

• Copies of Testing the Web

Teaching the Activity

Ask students to brainstorm topics where faith and science intersect. You could treat this as a discussion, or use A Map Handout from the Wonder and Wisdom activity A Map, and ask students to list topics, questions, and Bible passages relevant to faith and science on the handout.

Spend a few minutes gathering student’s suggestions. It is likely that questions surrounding origins will feature prominently in students’ findings. It is recommended to focus on this topic for the following class exercise, as websites on this topic are well established and easy to find.

You can return to students’ brainstormed list in the activity A Collaborative Resource.

Give students copies of Testing the Web. It introduces a simple rubric for basic evaluation of faith and science websites. As you review the categories below with students, take time to discuss why each might matter in deciding how useful a website is.

1. Website URL. (So that you can find it again later.)
2. What is the philosophical orientation or bias of the site? For instance, does it promote a specific stance on certain faith and science questions? (Websites are not simply neutral information; they reflect the perspectives of those who create them and the constituencies for which they are developed; knowing the basic perspective can help identify where there might be bias in the information.)
3. Major contributing writers. Include educational qualifications and fields of expertise. (Many websites are put up by people who may be under-qualified to offer more than opinions; checking the credentials of authors can help you decide whether to give their views more weight. Mention also the possibility of searching for an author’s other publications—have they published in reputable scientific or theological journals?)
4. Evaluate appearance and ease of use. (Accurate information is less useful if it is hard to access. What audience might most benefit from this website because of its design?)
5. Does the site offer any ways of validating its information, such as referring to studies published in scientific or theological journals? Give examples. (Science advances through a multitude of specific research studies, and referring to these is a standard way of grounding claims. It is still possible to make misleading claims by referring to outlier studies or ones that are out of date, but checking whether research is referenced is a simple first step in seeing if the information offered is serious.)
6. Does the site show respect for differing views? How constructive and respectful is the tone in the main site content, and in forum or comments sections? (Does the site practice ad hominem attacks or mock or belittle its opposition? Does it model respect for other views? Does this site attract or help to foster serious, courteous discussion? Or is it a place for people to war against their opponents?)

Break students into groups of two or three, and have them evaluate two websites that relate to the topic of origins from a Christian perspective.

Assign sites from the following:

• Young-Earth Creation:
  • Answers in Genesis
  • Institute for Creation Research
• Old-Earth Creation:
  • Reasons to Believe
• Evolutionary Creation:
  • BioLogos

You could also include some more eccentric, less reliable sites for comparison and discussion, such as Clarifying Christianity.

Give students about 20 to 25 minutes to complete the review. When they have had an appropriate amount of time, pair the groups to review each other’s work. Discuss similarities and differences among reviews:

• Did everyone hold to the same evaluative criteria?
• Why or why not?
• What elements of the websites were perceived differently from one student to the next?

Upon completion of the activity, have students write about or discuss which website was most appealing and why. Would they be likely to continue reading and checking the site to further their own education? Why or why not?

Ask the Class

In Brief

This activity aims to support student-adult conversations about science and faith and to draw those conversations into the life of the science class. It engages students in eliciting a question that relates to science and faith from a parent or another adult, and investigating possible answers.

Goals

Students will find out what questions a parent or another adult has about faith and science.

Students will conduct investigations with the purpose of helping their adult conversation partner with their questions.

Thinking Ahead

This activity aims to do two things: give students experience in purposeful online investigation of faith and science questions, and stimulate conversation between students and an adult conversation partner about learning taking place in the classroom.

If you plan to regularly involve parents and other adults in homework activities, it is advisable to communicate with them early in the school year about why this is happening, so that expectations are clear. (See the Activity Maps on Engaging Parents and Homework.)

Be sure to give multiple nights for this assignment, so that students have time to schedule with their adult conversation partner and conduct the activity.

As you prepare for this activity, consider how you see the role of parents or adult guardians in relation to students’ learning:

• Are parents or adult guardians there to help monitor deadlines?
• Are they potential sources of complaints who must be kept happy?
• Can key relationships provide a rich context of learning?
• What do school practices imply about the relational context of learning?

Relevant Book Review: Science & Theology: An Introduction by J. C. Polkinghorne

Preparing the Activity

Needed:

• A copy for each student of Ask the Class

Teaching the Activity

If you used the activity Google Everything, link this activity explicitly back to it. Having explored some of the limitations of searching for information online, students are now going to explore how it can be done responsibly.

Early in the semester or school year, tell students that they are going to research a question that a parent or another adult has about faith and science, and the possible answers.

For homework, assign students to have a conversation with at least one parent or another adult. The goal is to discover one question that the parent or adult conversation partner has about some aspect of science, or how the world works, and how this relates to faith. The question should be specific enough to investigate. It may be helpful to let students know that if the first person they talk with has no questions, they will need to find a second conversation partner.

As you give students instructions for this assignment, focus explicitly on how important it is for them to be gracious in the conversation they have with their parent or adult conversation partner. Ask students to name specific behaviors that could communicate lack of grace in learning, such as eye-rolling in response to a question that seems foolish. Make explicit that students should not, at this point, offer an answer to the question, even if they believe they have a good answer.

In the next class period, have students form groups of three and share their questions. Each group is now responsible for investigating their three questions. Assign a deadline, and tell students that they must prepare a report on their three questions. Encourage students to use online resources, but emphasize the following ground rules:

• Each online source should be assessed for credibility and documented. Ask students to rate the reliability of the source and give reasons why they think it may be reliable.
• Each finding from an online source should be checked against other sources, which could include other reputable online sources, teachers, and library resources. Tell students to avoid basing a conclusion on a single web page. Also instruct students to look for similar wording on multiple websites, and to avoid using a second site for corroboration when it is really another posting of the same source material.
• Where more than one view is found on a topic, students should document the different views, and not just take the first or most appealing answer. If there seem to be good reasons for finding one view more plausible, these should be included.
• Emphasize that the answer to an important question can be, “we don’t know,” in which case respect for truth requires accepting that, at least for now, that is the answer.

At the deadline, groups should submit outlines of the progress they have made, with a list of their sources. Check their sources for scientific and theological credibility and give feedback. Once students have received feedback, they are ready for the second part of the assignment. For homework, have them share their findings with their original adult conversation partner. At this time, they should have the adult fill out the response form in Ask the Class.

As you debrief this activity, discuss with students whether they thought they used online resources responsibly. Have them assess the resources’ usefulness and limitations. Ask them to consider the importance of the sources they used, as well as to reflect on their own care in using them.

Optional Extra

If you can make time for students to give brief presentations in class based on what they have investigated, this will allow the adults’ questions to help shape the agenda for learning in the class. This could be communicated back to the adults. Another option would be to arrange an open evening for groups to give brief presentations on what they learned from their investigations and invite parents and/or adult guardians to attend.

The Science of Porn

In Brief

This activity introduces the topic of pornography into the science classroom. It helps students see how a moral and social issue such as pornography can be connected to both faith and scientific research, and how research can help to inform moral prohibitions. Student pairs will read, and answer questions about, an article they find online and then share their findings in the classroom.

Goals

Students will understand that moral questions about pornography can be informed by scientific research.

Students will understand that there is a body of scientific work that points to dangers from pornography use.

Thinking Ahead

The use of pornography is endemic in our culture and has been becoming normalized culturally. Pornography use affects many adolescent students. Given the widespread presence and acceptance of pornography in society, faith-based calls to purity and abstention can appear arbitrary and moralistic. A variety of research studies, however, point to the harms that can result from internet and pornography addiction. Students may not think of faith, science, and moral questions about pornography as connected, and are unlikely to expect the topic to arise in science class. This very unexpectedness could help open space for valuable learning.

Relevant Book Review: After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N. T. Wright

Preparing the Activity

Needed:

• Internet access

• Copies of The Science of Porn

Directions:

Verify that all website links you plan to use in this activity can be opened on your school network.

Teaching the Activity

At the beginning of class, ask students to find a partner with whom they will work. In order to introduce the topic in a somewhat non-personal way, begin by projecting or reading a few sobering statistics from a source such as Webroot: Internet Porn by the Numbers or Covenant Eyes: Pornography Statistics.

Be careful to avoid a hectoring tone; be gentle and objective in the way you present the material, bearing in mind that the topic will be uncomfortable for many. Then ask students to discuss the following questions briefly in pairs:

• Have you ever been involved in a discussion about pornography in a school class?
• In what school subjects would you expect the topic to arise?
• What information sources have informed your opinions about pornography?
• How might science be connected to pornography?

Take a few minutes to allow pairs to report back to the whole class. Part of the goal at this point is to create some initial comfort with the topic by conducting a relaxed conversation.

Tell students that they are going to engage in some online investigation of how scientific research is relevant to current thinking about pornography. Each pair will investigate a specific use of scientific information in a discussion of pornography.

Direct students to Fight the New Drug: Get the Facts, where they will find 15 articles in three categories.

Each pair of students should be assigned one article. You may assign articles to pairs by category (i.e., the first pair will take the first article in the “brain” category, the second pair will take the second article in the “brain” category, etc.). An advantage of having students use the website themselves is that it will familiarize them with the resources available for possible later reference. Alternatively, you could print the articles available for download at Fight the New Drug and distribute them.

Hand out copies of The Science of Porn. Ask students to complete the handouts in pairs. Allow about 20 minutes for this. The sheet asks students to:

• Summarize the key claims of the article.
• Click to reveal the citations beneath the article, and identify the branches of research from which data has been used for the article (e.g., medicine, psychology, neuroscience, political science).
• Choose one of the cited articles from a scientific journal (rather than a book or a newspaper) and search for it online. Read the abstract and, if possible, the introduction and conclusion of the article. Summarize its findings and comment on whether they think it was used accurately in the first article they read. (Point out to students that if they have trouble tracking down a reference, they should choose a different one.)

When students have completed this task, have each pair meet with a second pair to share their findings. If you have time, you could repeat this step multiple times, allowing students exposure to more information on the topic. Optionally, you could have students collate their findings on a class blog, or have them turn in their sheets and make copies for the class.

Finally, gather the class back together and discuss the following questions:

• What area of life does pornography affect that you had not thought of before?
• What was the most surprising or shocking thing that you found during your investigation?
• How does learning about scientific information related to pornography affect the way you see it as a moral issue?
• Should we immediately accept that this website has irrefutable information about porn? How do we assess the fact that other studies have not found some of these negative consequences, at least, not for all users of pornography? Why might it be difficult to get a clear and unanimous scientific answer to questions about pornography use? (You could refer to Is Pornography Addictive?)
• The articles brought science to bear on pornography; what does the language of faith have to add to the conversation? (You could discuss, for instance, how seeing humans as God’s images affects how we see pornography.)
• Is having scientific information enough to change our behaviors? Why or why not? What is the role of Christian practices such as self-denial?

You might conclude the activity by allowing reflective time for students to consider their personal responses to what they have learned. You may wish to mention counseling resources at school, as well as those listed at Fight the New Drug: Get Help.

A Collaborative Resource

In Brief

In this activity, students work collaboratively to generate a bank of online resources about science and faith. This engages them in exploring a particular website in depth and reporting to the class on its resources.

Goals

Students will evaluate and report on online faith and science resources.

Students will collaborate to create a bank of online learning resources for one another, focused on faith and science.

Thinking Ahead

Long after their time in school classrooms, students continue to be confronted with questions and debates about faith and science. New findings and changing topics, as well as the sheer vastness of the subject, ensure that answers learned in school will not cover all future learning needs.

Knowing where to find informed resources on faith and science is an important skill for students to gain, and an investment in their future faith development. Rather than just providing a list of resources, this activity has students conduct research and serve one another’s future needs by communally creating a guide to online science and faith resources.

This could easily be assigned early in the year and left unmentioned until results become due. However, consider how you could keep the class engaged with the activity throughout the year. Not only by reminding them about making progress, which would focus only on task completion, but by reminding them that they are practicing investment in the learning of their community.

This activity is likely to work best with older students.

Relevant Book Review: Emerging Adulthood and Faith by Jonathan P. Hill

Preparing the Activity

Needed:

• Internet access for students

• Copies of A Collaborative Resource

Teaching the Activity

If you used the activity Google Everything, link this activity explicitly back to it. Having explored some of the limitations of searching for information online, students are now going to explore how it can be done responsibly.

Students will develop a master list of substantial websites that offer thoughtful resources on questions about faith and science. Focus on sites that address the topic in multiple ways, rather than single blog posts, and on sites that seek to offer more than just one writer’s opinion.

You can use the following list as a basis, and add your own as you discover them:

• Answers in Genesis
• BioLogos
• Catholic Education Resource Center: Science
• Christians in Science
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Resources
• Institute for Creation Research 
• Reasons to Believe 
• Science and Belief
• Test of Faith
• The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion

At the beginning of the year or semester, announce that the students in class are going to collaborate in the development of a bank of resources on faith and science.

Have students work in pairs, assigning a specific website to each pair. Emphasize that more than a quick visit to the assigned website is necessary, as they are responsible for informing other students’ learning. They need to spend time exploring the site and produce a substantial report.

Give students copies of A Collaborative Resource. Explain that they will work with their partner to complete the tasks on the sheet, and the results of their work will be copied and shared with the rest of the class as a resource for future learning.

The instructions ask them to investigate the following questions:

1. Who created the site, and what kind of authors write on it? (Are they professional scientists? Theologians? Journalists? Are they well qualified? Or is the author information hidden?)
2. What is the philosophical orientation or bias of the site? (For instance, does it promote a specific stance on certain faith and science questions?)
3. What are the main topics of the site?
4. What kinds of resources (e.g., short comment pieces, long research articles, videos, interviews, etc.) does it offer?
5. Who might find them useful? (Are they written for other scientists, or for adults in general, or for children? How easy are they to understand?)
6. What could a visitor learn by spending time on this site? How highly would you recommend it to others?

Students are then to use the information to create a one-page guide to the website. These guides should be collected when completed and shared with other students to create a class guide to faith and science online. There are various ways in which you could approach this:

• Each pair of students could be assigned a day during the semester or school year when they are given a few minutes to make an oral presentation to the class about their website. Their one-page guide should be distributed as a handout. Have students collect them in a folder.
• The various guides could be collected as blog posts in a class blog, or gathered together into a newsletter-style publication at the end of the semester and given to all students.
• The resulting resource could be shared further, for instance, with parents or other adults.