Making evolution relevant and interesting
I just stumbled across a post on Interrogating Nature that deserves some internet attention. The post summarizes a ten-point plan by David M. Hillis, published in Evolution, for making evolution relevant and interesting to biology students. I was pleased to find my pet issue given top billing at point #2: “Clarify that evolution is not a synonym for natural selection.” Other fine suggestions for improving evolution education, an exercise I consider analogous to greasing the axis our world goes round, include updating textbook examples and describing experimental research. For a topic that I thought seemed a bit boring (aren’t we ALL trying to make evolution relevant and interesting?), this paper surprised me. The ten points so obviously make evolution funner and more scientifically sound… let’s rewrite the textbooks now!