This page explains the historical context of a website I developed (for the Science Education Commission of ASA) about Whole-Person Education — with the goal of improving our scientific knowledge & thinking skills, and providing Christian perspectives on interactions between faith and science – with descriptions I wrote in 1999 and 2004.

In late 1999, this description of plans for the website was part of ASA's Newsletter for members of our Science Education Commission:
 

    Science Ed on the Web
    At the recent Annual Meeting of ASA, Bill Cobern (member of ASA Executive Council) outlined some ideas for a website to be developed by the Science Education Commission.  This proposal was greeted with enthusiasm, and with plans for action.  Ideas for content and format are currently being generated and evaluated.  Some possibilities are described in this report.
    The ASA Science Education website will be integrated with the main ASA website, with links from each to the other.  It will serve the Christian community in many ways, helping to improve the education of students in home schools and in private and public schools.  The site will have three broad goals: motivating students, helping them learn the organized content and logical thinking methods of science, and providing Christian perspectives on science and nature.
    One practical way to support home schooling is to provide a curriculum guide that will help parents decide what to do (selection) and when (sequencing).  Bill Cobern has suggested using the curriculum framework of Project 2061 (a national effort to reform science education) as a starting point, to take advantage of work already done.  This will also provide an opportunity for commentary, when in each area of the framework we describe Christian perspectives and compare these with what 2061 has written, to show the broad areas of overlap where Christian and secular approaches are similar, and where they differ.  A "guide with commentary" would also be useful for Christian schools and public school teachers.
    A discussion of Christian perspectives will begin with a wide-scope view of science and nature, before moving into the controversial area of origins.  Most websites express a single view of origins, but an ASA site should reflect the diversity of views within ASA.  Our "multiple positions website" will be a unique and valuable resource for students and the church, and for those outside the Christian community.  One goal is to show, by our example, a productive way to handle disagreements, with rigorous critical thinking done in an atmosphere of respectful attitudes and accurate portrayal of all views.  After emphasizing the important ways in which we agree, three main views (young-earth creation, old-earth creation, and theistic evolution) will be clearly expressed by their proponents.  And we will explain how Intelligent Design differs from, yet overlaps with, each of these views.  In addition, lively debates among the major positions will help to clarify concepts and promote critical thinking.
    Our site will take advantage of the opportunities for creative structuring offered by the web.  The home page and the introductory pages for each topic will be brief and interesting, focusing on the felt needs of readers.  Controversial issues will be treated gently, with balance and respect.  Later, we can move on to increased depth and complexity, with views argued more vigorously.  Material used in the website will be carefully evaluated and selected.  It will be written by ASA members, as individuals or in groups like the Creation Commission, and by others, and will be located in our site and elsewhere on the web, and in print.  Another source is our readers; we can stimulate thinking and facilitate interactions such as home-schooling parents sharing their ideas for instruction, or students engaging in electronic conversations with each other (to share observations, theories,...) and with Christian scientists.
    As we develop the website, we'll be looking for help.  If you have suggestions for the site, or special knowledge about some aspects of education, or if you can recommend resources (especially on the web), we hope you'll share your ideas by sending them to Bill Cobern (bill.cobern@wmich.edu) or Craig Rusbult (crusbult@wisc.edu).
 

In late 2004, this report on the website was part of a newsletter for ASA's Science Education Commission:
 

      A Website for Whole-Person Education
      In his ASA Presidential Report for 2000, Jay Hollman described our many ministry possibilities and challenged us to invest the effort needed to achieve "the vision of what ASA could be if..."   At the annual meeting in July 2003, Keith Miller urged us to be good "stewards of knowledge" by wisely using the abilities, experiences, and opportunities given to us by God.  We can be good stewards by sharing what we know (in education) and by making wise decisions based on what we know.
      The Science Education Commission is only one part of the educational mission of ASA.  In addition to members working as individuals and in other commissions, there is the ASA/Templeton Lecture Series, and the ASA Lay Education Project that will "enable lay members of Christian churches to understand... the appropriate use of God's dual revelations...in the Bible and in nature" by using the earth's age as a topic for study.  The work of ASA, through its members, includes efforts to improve education inside schools (public, private, and home, in K-12 and college) and outside schools in the Christian community and in society as a whole.
      Soon, these efforts will be made more effective, and more widely recognized, through communities facilitated by our interactions in the bulletin board forums.  As explained in the introduction (Let's make some news!), this newsletter is about "future news" that I hope will happen.

      In the past few years, however, the main project of the Science Education Commission has been a website – proposed in 1999 by William Cobern (then a member of ASA Executive Council) – with a purpose, as described in its homepage, to "help you enjoy the exciting adventure of learning and thinking, while you're exploring the fascinating world created by God.  We want to increase your knowledge and stimulate your thinking, while you're learning about Christian perspectives on nature and science.  And if you're a teacher, we hope you'll become more effective in motivating your students and helping them improve their understanding and thinking skills."
      Other pages explain the educational style and philosophy.  "This website will help you learn quickly, on two levels: introduction and exploration.  First, we'll quickly provide a coherent overview of important ideas, to help you understand the ideas and their relationships.  Then, to help you explore more deeply, we'll provide links to pages that examine the ideas and relationships in more depth.  In both phases, we'll adopt a 'multiple positions' approach by explaining different views, so you can be well informed while you develop your own perspectives."
      My inspiration for this approach was a high school civics teacher who held debates in class:  On Monday he convinced us that "his side of the issue" was correct, but on Tuesday he made the other side look just as good.  After awhile we learned that, to get accurate understanding, we should get the best information and arguments that all sides of an issue can claim as support.  After we did this and we understood more accurately and thoroughly, we usually recognized that people on different sides may have good reasons, both intellectual and ethical, for believing as they do, so we learned respectful attitudes.  In our website, we want to encourage accurate understanding and respectful attitudes by accurately and respectfully describing the main views on each topic, so we can make progress in our search for truth.

      This multi-position approach is especially useful and interesting in the area of origins:  "Most websites express a single view of origins.  But our goal is education, so our website should reflect the diversity of views within our organization and in the Christian community.  Instead of claiming to provide The Origins Answer, we'll explore Origins Questions. ...  Our goal is to help you understand a wide range of views about theology and science."  This area – about Origins Questions – is related to three other areas: The Nature of Science, WorldViews, and School Options.
      We'll explore The Nature of Science in fascinating Stories about Science (from history and current events) and exciting Debates about Science (Are some views of science dangerous? Can too much of a good thing be harmful? Do scientists seek truth? Do they create reality? How can we avoid being carried away to extremes?) and conscientious Christians in Science.
      A World View is "a mental model of reality (a set of theories about what exists, how and why things happen, and what it means), a view of the world that we use for living in the world, that serves as a foundation for our thoughts and actions."  This area will describe Christian worldviews and will compare them with other views of the world.
      School Options "compares four types of schools (home, private, public, and charter) to show the similarities and differences, advantages and disadvantages. ...  Public concerns about public schools include questions about educational quality and religious neutrality. ...  Why do some parents and educators have concerns about the worldviews that are the foundation for instruction in public schools?"

      Three areas focus on basic education, on the process of preparing for life by learning useful ideas and skills:  Learning Skills (motivation, concentration, memory, reading, writing, preparing for exams, taking exams, and using time effectively) are the foundation for education.  Thinking Skills that are creative and evaluative are combined in the problem-solving methods used by scientists and designers.  Effective Teaching offers practical Teaching Strategies and Teaching Activities to help teachers improve their effectiveness through goal-directed planning and action.

      This website will be a valuable educational resource.  Who is the audience?  In general, "This website is for everyone who likes to think.  It's for learners and teachers.  Of course, this includes you, since each of us is a learner, a self-teacher, and a teacher of others."  I think the "multiple positions" approach in Origins Questions is most likely to be noticed, and to make a positive impact in the educational community.  But all areas will be useful, especially when they're more fully developed, and to do this I'll need your help.

 
[[ an update in July 2023:  In 2004 my vision for the website's future recognized that "to do this [to develop it more fully] I'll need your help."  But we never did form a wikipedia-type collaborative community.  Instead all of the website work has been done by me.  Currently I'm wondering if this situation will change (or should change) in the future. ]]
 

 
home-page for the ASA Science Education website