By Jeffery Boudreau | Observer Reporter
According to a Gallup poll published on February 11 2009, just before Charles Darwin’s birthday, only 39% of Americans believe in Evolution. So how do you teach a class that more than half of the people in the country do not believe in? Some people do not like math or English courses, but it would be hard to find someone who does not believe in them.
Heather Conn teaches the course here at the Mount. Evolution can be a controversial topic for some, but Conn said that it is good for people to “learn the other side of the story.” She is not afraid to engage with people who do not believe in evolution, encouraging those who disbelieve to send her links and bring in material to present their side of the story.
Naysayers of evolution say that evolution is just a theory, but a theory “is an idea or hypothesis that has been repeatedly supported by scientific studies/experiments.” Conn presents that which has been proven by science and does not make connections that can not be backed up with facts. In the same way she looks at anyone’s information they bring to refute to it.
Sean Ryder, alumni of the Mount who took the class last semester said, “Professor Conn was well-versed in the subject matter, the labs were informative, and the assignments were clear and simple. The real world examples that were used were very helpful in understanding the concepts of the course.” One of Conn’s favorite parts of the course is that she makes the labs for the class, instead of trying to work with a lab book that does not exactly fit the course.
Along with the normal class time and labs the class takes field trips to places like the New England Aquarium and to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Conn said, “I think it is important for students to try to connect what they are learning in class with the world around them. Biogeology is a course about the evolution of organisms so what better way to reinforce that than to go on field trips to see…
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