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Popular Media in the Biology Classroom: Viewing Popular Science Skeptically.

Biology is not an opinion subject. ... It's a facts-based subject. If this had been a philosophy class, I wouldn't have said anything. (Spies, 2008) The above statement was made by a senior in a university embryology course in response to her teacher's suggestion that fetuses should be aborted if amniocentesis showed the presence of trisomy-21. The student, who happened to have a sibling with Down syndrome, was appalled at the comment, and reported the instructor to the Dean of the college because she felt that instructor opinions had no place in the science classroom. In response, the professor (with 35 years of teaching experience) later admitted that he offers this opinion as a means for stimulating class discussion, and if faced with the same situation would not likely find the decision as clear-cut as he might imply in his lecture. Accusations and justifications aside, it is the student's explanation of why this statement was offensive in this particular classroom setting that begs consideration. Where did the aforementioned lesson go wrong? Why was there a disconnect between the instructor's intent and the student's interpretation? The authors of this article argue that this example elucidates a disturbing trend in students' views of the nature of science (in this case, in the context of biology) as a body of facts. Recent science education research and reform documents strongly disagree with this perspective and stress the need for teaching students to appreciate the nature of the scientific enterprise and its social ramifications. It can be argued that the responsibilities of biology educators to their students extend far beyond the delivery of science content. Educators are also charged with ensuring that students do not temporarily memorize the information, but actively integrate it into their daily lives. Personal integration of science content should prepare students to evaluate the reliability and merit of this information outside of the classroom (Laugksch, 2000). At the K-12 level, the National Science Education Standards support this educational goal as one component of scientific literacy by stating that, "everyone needs to be able to engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about important issues that involve science and technology" (NRC, 1996, p. 1). In addition, the former Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), Gerry Wheeler, was quoted as saying, "We have in this country a major crisis of people listening to people they feel comfortable with [rather than] listening to a variety of groups and critically thinking through their messages" (MacDonald, 2008). For the general public, information regarding science topics is often obtained from media sources such as the Internet, television, or newspapers (NSF, 2006). In recognition of this, it would be beneficial for curriculum designers to integrate the critical use of media sources as a tool to promote scientific literacy in the biology classroom (Jarman & McClune, 2007; MacKenzie, 2007). This is admittedly not a new concept to the community of educators, many of whom already address the intersection of science and society by integrating popular media into their lesson plans (Guill, 2006). In his discussion of the primary goals of scientific literacy, DeBoer (2000) argues that the ability to understand and negotiate science issues presented by the media is a critical skill for students' successful matriculation into society. Teaching through the use of popular media can be difficult for many teachers because science issues presented may often carry implicit or subtle cultural, moral, and/or religious undertones. When asked about their methods regarding teaching such controversial science topics, many teachers indicate a preference for focusing on facts, rationality, balanced views, and teacher neutrality (Oulton et al., 2004). This only reinforces student perceptions that science should be all about "facts. …