Proposal
College student’s views of science make up a significant component of their overall worldview. In an ongoing effort to understand the creation worldview construct and the impact of teaching from a creationist perspective, students at Liberty University have been pre- and post-tested in a required course on the creation/evolution controversy using the Creationist Worldview Scale (CWS). Previous studies have demonstrated a shift toward a stronger creationist view after the course. The present study compares the CWS with two other instruments used to evaluate origins views. The other scales were (1) a modified version of MATE and (2) a portion of the Lawson and Worsnop Scale. Interestingly, while a significant difference was observed on the post-test for the CWS and the Lawson and Worsnop Scale, there was no difference for the MATE. The Lawson and Worsnop Scale may have invalid items because students identified as Creationist disagreed with the items which Lawson and Worsnop predicted they should agree. This study highlights the importance of a correct understanding of the creationist worldview in the development of instruments used to measure the construct.
Keywords
College student attitudes, Attitudes toward creationism, Attitudes toward evolution, Worldviews, Measurement of attitudes toward creationism, Measurement of attitudes toward evolution
Print Reference
Pages 473-483
Disclaimer
DigitalCommons@Cedarville provides a publication platform for fully open access journals, which means that all articles are available on the Internet to all users immediately upon publication. However, the opinions and sentiments expressed by the authors of articles published in our journals do not necessarily indicate the endorsement or reflect the views of DigitalCommons@Cedarville, the Centennial Library, or Cedarville University and its employees. The authors are solely responsible for the content of their work. Please address questions to dc@cedarville.edu.
Recommended Citation
Deckard, Steven W.; DeWitt, David; Pantana, John; and Fyock, James
(2008)
"Measurement of Creation/Evolution Student Attitudes and the Importance of a Correct Understanding of Worldview within a Young-Earth Creationist Context,"
Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism: Vol. 6, Article 38.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/icc_proceedings/vol6/iss1/38