Science Teacher Symposium

Intelligent Design after "Expelled"

What will it be like to teach about Intelligent Design in the wake of the movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” (released to over 900 theatres on April 18)?  Internationally known design theorist Dr. Paul Nelson, who appeared in “Expelled,” will give us an answer. Dr. John Bloom and Dr. Mike Keas of Biola’s M.A. Program in Science and Religion will also contribute to the program. The symposium grants teachers with ACSI (Christian) Continuing Education Units.  Public and home school educators are also welcomed.

Thursday July 17, 2008, 8:00 a.m. - 9:45 p.m., Biola University
Friday, July 18, 2008, 8:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Biola University

Presented by Biola University’s M.A. Program in Science and Religion.

• Register:  Call (888) 332-4652, or download form
• Cost (includes CEU and two lunches):  $99 ($109 if postmarked after July 1).
• Registration deadline: Postmarked by July 7, received by July 11.  
• Location: Dorothy English Hall in room 65 
  See www.biola.edu/about/location/maps (Dorothy English Hall is building #52E on the campus map)

Symposium Topics Important to all Science Teachers

• Introduction to Science and Religion
  This material will help teachers distinguish between religion and science.
• Resources for Teaching about Intelligent Design
• Human Origins: Issues in Physical Science and Biology

Parallel Sessions

• Physical Sciences
• Inferring Design from Anthropic Correspondences
• Biochemistry: The Biochemical Prerequisites for Life
• Life Sciences
• Recent Advances in Biological Intelligent Design Research
• Using the “Explore Evolution” Curriculum (going beyond topics covered in our 2007 Symposium)*

*A new supplementary textbook delivers critical thinking at its best (9th grade – college): Explore Evolution: The Arguments for and Against Neo-Darwinism (Hill House Publishers, 2007). Those teaching lower grade levels may wish to consider ways of adapting this material. To qualify for a complimentary copy of the curriculum, a teacher must be seriously considering its use for classes with at least 10 students, each of whom would be supplied with a purchased copy of Explore Evolution. See www.exploreevolution.com for more information. This book does not teach about Intelligent Design, and is suitable for public schools. We do not favor mandating the teaching of Intelligent Design in schools.

Other Information About the Symposium

• Tentative schedule
• About the speakers
• Hotels near Biola University
• Travel information
• For more information, please contact us

Attention: Public School Teachers

Are you looking for ways to fulfill governmental educational mandates concerning controversial topics in the biology classroom?  The Biola Symposium will help you.  Educational standards in both the US and the UK, for example, clearly state that the curriculum should help students to understand the full range of views that exist and why such topics may generate controversy.

A US Supreme Court decision allows teachers to teach biology in a way that incorporates “a variety of scientific theories…with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction.”  The new supplemental textbook Explore Evolution, when coordinated with other materials, empowers teachers and students to better fulfill these public educational goals.