Jason Wiles and his colleagues wanted to find out how the theory of evolution is taught and viewed in Muslim cultures and countries to form better teaching methods for Muslim students in Western schools.

So they started a four-year study on the teaching and acceptance levels of evolution in Muslim societies. Wiles, an associate professor of biology at Syracuse University and associate director of the Evolution Education Research Center, presented the research data Friday. The presentation took place at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

‘If teachers in schools are faced with Muslim immigrants, they might not know what they’ve been taught about all kinds of things,’ Wiles said in a phone interview.

The study, focused on Egypt, Pakistan, Lebanon, Turkey, Indonesia and Muslim populations in Canada, is an attempt at developing a better base of understanding between Muslim and Western societies, he said.

Thousands of scientists, teachers and high school students in Muslim nations were surveyed for the study, Wiles said. For Wiles and his colleagues, translating survey questions into the many languages and dialects posed challenges.

For each language the survey was translated into, Wiles and fellow researchers had to get three independent translations, he said. Experts in the language then further groomed these translations until they had the correct connotations and wording, Wiles said.

‘Just getting it to a point where we were fairly confident that we were really asking what we wanted to ask was quite an endeavor,’ he said.

The results of the study were mixed and do not paint a single portrait of how Muslims view evolution, he said.

‘There’s not one single Muslim way of thinking about evolution,’ Wiles said. ‘And the variety of thought that you find across the Islamic countries and cultures is just as broad as you find in Western cultures and countries.’

Wiles said this variety of thought is based on Muslims’ differing interpretations of the Quran, particular religious sects, previous knowledge of science and personal experiences. The political climate within differing Muslim nations is also a cause of wide-ranging thoughts about evolution, he said.

It is difficult to draw distinctions between traditional Christian thoughts concerning evolution and Muslim thoughts because of the similar varieties in belief, Wiles said.

Linda Ivany, a professor in the earth sciences department, said she sees a need for a better understanding between the sciences and religion. She said this is an issue every time she teaches evolution.

Ivany thinks it’s important for scientists to remain sensitive to students’ religious backgrounds, she said.

‘I try to accommodate different viewpoints and be respectful of students in terms of their backgrounds and their views,’ Ivany said.

In an increasingly globalized environment, Ivany said she thinks projects like Wiles’ study are going to become increasingly important.

Said Ivany: ‘It’s going to become more of an issue to understand how some of those countries that are now becoming really globalized, how their science is progressing as well.’

jwklau@syr.edu

 

 

 

 

Published on February 22, 2011 at 12:00 pm