GENERAL INFORMATION

WHAT IS ENSI/SENSI?

The ENSI/SENSI Program: History & Concepts

ENSI/SENSI HISTORY

In February 1987, the "founders" (and faculty-to-be) met for the first time at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The occasion was the first meeting of the Task Force on Teacher Institutes of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) located in Berkeley, California and funded then by a grant that Stan Weinberg, the Founding Father of NCSE, had received from the Carnegie and Lounsbury Foundation. This began their decade of activity to promote Evolution teaching. Jean Beard chaired that Task Force and called the meeting of its seven members to "brainstorm" various ideas for reaching and helping high school biology teachers to cope with the problems associated with teaching evolution. The four members (besides the three who ultimately became the ENSI faculty) were: Dr. Ronald Pine (IMSA), Dr. George Magrane, Dr. Adela Elwell, and Ms. Frances Vandervoort (Biology Teacher). From that and subsequent meetings, the Task Force applied to the National Science Foundation for a Teacher Enhancement grant. That proposal was denied based on its being overstaffed and too grandiose for an initial effort, even though the reviewers thought the basic idea was good. In 1988 with Carnegie funding expiring and Task Force members going on to other projects, Jean Beard and Craig Nelson decided to write a second, smaller proposal to NSF entitled "Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes for High School Biology Teachers." Martin Nickels was included as a faculty member, giving us one science educator, one biologist, and one anthropologist, a bare bones minimum staff. This proposal was funded in 1989. Jean, Craig, and Martin have served as Co-Directors and faculty of the Institutes since its beginning. The main objective of ENSI is to improve the teaching of evolution in High School Biology courses by encouraging teachers to teach evolutionary thinking in the context of a more complete understanding of modern scientific thinking (see Nickels et al article on this site). The trio met in Seattle at the NSTA convention in March and began the planning of a detailed institute. Planning was refined in June 1989 at Indiana University in Bloomington a few days before greeting 30 high school biology teachers on the "opening day" of the first ENSI. The program eventually received two more NSF grants funding a total of 6 years of ENSIs (and moving the operation to San Jose in 1992) and 6 years of "Satellite"-ENSIs, or "SENSIs". The SENSI concept was for experienced ENSI teachers, with additional training, to become "Lead Teachers", and teach the ENSI program to other teachers in two-week local institutes. From 1989-94, 180 teachers from wide-ranging areas of the country were taught by the faculty. This turned out to be phase one. In phase two, 38 teachers from the first five ENSIs were given a second Summer of preparation to become pairs of Lead Teachers. In phase three, 49 SENSIs (satellite ENSIs) were taught by the Lead Teachers from 1992-98 to more that 650 teachers. The Lead Teachers have been active in making other presentations at places such as NABT and state meetings. Now we are in phase four, with ENSIweb. In this way we are sharing the objectives and teaching materials with a still larger audience. We have included the names of ENSI and SENSI teacher participants. We have learned that having a colleague to talk with about teaching new information and using new materials is very helpful. If you know any of our participants, ask them to assist you in sharing their experiences with the lessons which are here. In addition, we have listed COLLEAGUES who can help you, and their email addresses. To help create and develop the website, Larry Flammer joined the team in 1997. He was a 1992 ENSI participant in San Jose, CA, and a SENSI Lead Teacher for three years. His recent retirement has allowed him the time needed to build ENSIweb. Support through NSF/TPE grants 88-555-60 and 90-555-85 to the Indiana University Foundation and 91-552-59 to the San Jose State University Foundation was absolutely essential to these efforts.

Recent Publications by the Faculty

The philosphy and content of the ENSI program is presented in somewhat greater detail in two recent articles authored by the ENSI faculty: Nelson, C.E., M.K. Nickels, and J. Beard. (1998). "The Nature of Science As a Foundation for Teaching Science: Evolution As a Case Study". In W.F. McComas (Ed.),The Nature of Science in Science Education. (Chapter 20, pp. 315-328). Kluwer Academic Publishers. Nickels, M.K., C.E. Nelson, and J. Beard. (1996). "Better Biology Teaching by Emphasizing Evolution & the Nature of Science". The American Biology Teacher 58(6), September , pp. 332-336. (Available on this site). Other recent publications by the faculty: Nelson, Craig E. (2000). "Effective Strategies for Teaching Controversial Topics", in The Creation Controversy & The Science Classroom, published by NSTA. Also available online (see "Strategies for Teaching Evolution" in our Teaching Unit section.) Nelson, C.E. (1986). "Creation, Evolution, or Both?". In R.W. Hanson (Ed.), Science and Creation (pp.128-159). New York: Macmillan. Nelson, C.E. (1989). "Skewered on the unicorn's horn: The illusion of tragic tradeoff between content and critical thinking in the teaching of science." In L. Crow (Ed.), Enhancing Critical Thinking in th Sciences (pp.17-27). Washington, DC: Society for College Science Teachers. Nickels, M.K. (1987). "Human Evolution: A challenge for biology teachers. The American Biology Teacher, 49(3), 143-148.

SOME ENSI CONCEPTS

Central to the ENSI program is the importance for students to learn the nature of modern science (including its uncertainty and other limits) as it is conceptualized and practiced today, before introducing the elements of evolution as an example of modern scientific thinking. Much of the misunderstanding about evolution, and much of the perceived "conflict" between science and religion claimed by some people can be traced to misinformation about both science and evolution as both are understood and used by modern scientists. A valid literacy in science entails knowing what science CAN do, what science CANNOT do, and HOW science is actually done in the real world of scientists. Science should be understood as a very useful and reliable way of knowing how the natural world works. One of the best examples one could use to help illustrate the nature of modern science is the theory of evolution. This concept is fundamental to all of biological and medical science today, as well as many other scientific disciplines. Evolutionary theory, as it is understood and used in science today, is also widely misinterpreted, misapplied and misunderstood by most people. Clearly, any biology course today which does not fully and accurately present and use the theory of evolution is a woefully incomplete biology course. Just as importantly, because a clear and accurate understanding of evolutionary thinking rests on a clear and accurate understanding of science, learning about the nature of modern science should precede learning about evolution. Both of these topics are probably most effective and useful when presented very early in the biology course. The following 32 concepts include SOME of the key ideas used in the ENSI/SENSI program. 1. Science deals only with natural patterns and mechanisms. 2. Understanding science enables one to differentiate it from pseudoscience and non- science. 3. Scientific knowledge is uncertain, tentative and subject to revision. 4. Scientific explanations and interpretations can neither be proven nor disproven with certainty. 5. Scientists use a variety of criteria to compare explanations and select the better ones. 6. Human values deeply influence science (its terminology, the questions asked, and the criteria used for choosing among theories). 7. Several independent lines of evidence confirm that the earth is billions of years old. 8. The Second Law of Thermodynamics applies to whole systems rather than to their parts. 9. The scientific view of the origin of life on earth is that it did not involve supernatural processes. 10. Currently scientists assume that life will originate under appropriate geochemical conditions. 11. The origins of DNA and the genetic code remains a puzzle. 12. The fossil record shows a pattern of increasing diversity and large-scale changes through time. 13. Transitional forms are generally mosaic; that is, some traits evolve more rapidly than others. 14.The groups-within-groups hierarchical pattern of Linnaean classification is a result of both extinction and branching from common descent. 15. Different classification schemes (such as phenetics and cladistics) produce contrasting classifications of the same organism because they utilize different criteria and values. 16. The five-kingdom scheme represents a compromise between more accurate descriptions of biological reality and other scientific values. 17.The evidence that humans have evolved from non-humans is stronger than that for evolution within most other groups. 18. Modern apes and humans evolved from a common ancestor. 19. Many features of modern organisms reflect the structure of their ancestors in ways that are not adaptive. 20. Many lineages may have become extinct for reasons other than interspecific competition. 21. The production of genetic variation is random with regard to the adaptive requirements of the organism. 22. Natural selection alone can account for most of the adaptive features of organisms 23. Traits are usually favored by natural selection only when they result in more reproductively successful offspring. 24. In many cases, increases in individual fitness are obtained in ways that reduce individual life span. 25. In many cases, increases in individual fitness are obtained in ways that reduce the number of offspring per parent. 26. Most traits exist for the benefit of the individual rather than for the good of the species. 27. While natural selection explains evolutionary modifications within lineages, speciation explains evolutionary branching and diversification. 28. Speciation involves genetic differentiation, ecological differentiation (niche separation) and reproductive isolation. 29. Some evolutionary change is rapid and discontinuous (not a result of the incremental accumulation of minor genetic modifications). 30. Speciation can occur in only a single generation. 31. Evolutionary theory is central to modern biological science. 32. Biological evolution is one of the strongest scientific theories known.

The Nature of Modern Science and Scientific Knowledge by Martin Nickels The attached outline contains much of the conceptual basis for the ENSI project. Its essential content was presented and discussed during the ENSI institutes. Careful reading and review of this material will be most valuable before the lessons on this site are used in your classes. This is especially true when it comes to questions about certain terms which are often misunderstood and misused by the public and the popular press. You can see this useful outline by clicking the title above.

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