Discussion Board Forum 3
Topic: Intelligent Design
You and your classmates are ordinary citizens interested in science education. You have been assembled into an advisory group. The Virginia State Education Commission is drafting a policy that will affect all school boards in the state. You are being protected in a secluded hotel from ACLU lawyers and right-wing demonstration groups. Here is your question: Is intelligent design theory scientific? The Virginia State Education Commission is paying you thousands dollars for a simple yes or no answer to this question. Such an answer may be unrealistic, but court battles will follow. You need to get as close to a yes or no answer as possible.
As a group, you have 3 reference sources:
- Your textbook’s 2 chapters on origins and the scientific method
- The course presentation entitled “Origins, ID, and the Public School Classroom”
- Two expensive expert witnesses: Michael Behe, a Lehigh University biochemist, and Eugenia Scott of the National Center for Science Education (your two expert witnesses come to you from presentations in the Reading & Study folder of this module/week)
For your thread:
As panelists, first do your homework, then make a decision: based on how the scientific method works, is intelligent design theory scientific? Can you use it to do science?
The title must begin with the word “yes” or “no.” Using 3 concise, numbered sentences, argue your answer.
For your replies:
Seek to reply to at least 2 classmates whose positions are different from your own. The objective is to convince the whole group to accept your side. If most classmates’ threads are sympathetic to your own, critique their arguments rather than their conclusions. This makes the group’s overall conclusive support stronger. For each reply, use 2 concise, numbered sentences.
Note: In your replies, you may digress into the related question: based on how the scientific method works, is macroevolutionary theory scientific? Can you use it to do science?
Bibliography
Detwiler, C., Mitchell, K., & Reichenbach, N. (2015). Life by design (Custom). Boston, MA: Cengage Custom Publishing.
Gross, R. [Randall Gross]. (2009. April 11). Science is agnostic [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJpYUxRL_3U.
IDquest. (2010, January 26). Are there limits to natural science?: Michael J. Behe, PhD [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXo4VPJyz9w.
Liberty University. (n.d.). Origins, intelligent design and the public school classroom [Presentation]. Retrieved from https://learn.liberty.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-23035429-dt-content-rid-101909846_1/xid-101909846_1.
Submit your thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday, and submit your replies by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday.