Science education
Category archives for Science education
Twittering in the classroom
Posted by Tara C. Smith on August 24, 2010 Readers may be interested in participating in this, from Dave Wessner at Davidson College: Building on a project I piloted last fall, I will explore the potential role of Twitter more intentionally this fall in a course I teach on HIV/AIDS at Davidson College. I invite you to join me in this exploration. Here are…
Getting the whole story- attempting to make sense of disease through evolutionary medicine
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 24, 2010 Student guest post by Anne Dressler The idea of evolutionary medicine is new to me and my understanding is quite shallow but it has piqued my interest. Currently, the book “Why We Get Sick” by Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams has been satisfying my curiosity during the 15 minutes of intellectual thought I…
Student guest posts: infectious causes of chronic disease
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 22, 2010 It’s that time again. I teach a class in even years on infectious causes of chronic disease, looking at the role various infections play in cancer, autoimmune disease, mental illness, and other chronic conditions. When I last taught the course in 2008, the students were assigned two writing assignments–to be posted here on the blog.…
Misc. links
Posted by Tara C. Smith on May 4, 2009 Back to the grind this week unfortunately, but the swine flu/H1N1 story is still developing and still fascinating. The most recent numbers show 286 confirmed US cases in 36 states. There are many remaining questions on the evolution and epidemiology of this strain–and many pundits sure they know what’s going to happen next. Mike takes…
Help Isis help undergrads
Posted by Tara C. Smith on March 19, 2009 Dr. Isis has a sweet announcement today. In conjunction with the American Physiological Society, she’s funding an award for undergraduate researchers. She’s donating her monthly Scienceblogs payment to the cause, and APS is providing matching funds, up to $500. Help her out by clicking over to check out her blog; her post describing the award…
Anti-evolution bill in Iowa
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 26, 2009 I am so incredibly tardy with this information that Arizonian John Lynch and the lovely folks at Uncommon Descent have already blogged this, but recently an “academic freedom” bill was introduced in Iowa. For those who may be unfamiliar, in addition to “teach the controversy,” these “academic freedom” bills are one of the new tactics…
The science fair: what’s a parent to do (or not to do?)
Posted by Tara C. Smith on September 18, 2008 This started out in the comments to Janet’s conundrum about what to do regarding her child’s upcoming science fair: I’m very committed to the idea that a science fair project is the kind of thing a kid should control, from start to finish — conceiving the project, formulating some clear questions and some promising strategies…
Field work 101…a crash course for my summer students
Posted by Tara C. Smith on July 25, 2008 As I’ve mentioned, this has been a busy year. In the span of 3 months, 3 small grants were funded; enough to keep me busy for the next year. Though my training prior to arriving here was almost exclusively in bench microbiology (mostly molecular microbiology/molecular epidemiology), I knew when I took my current job that…
“Sizzle” tries, but fizzles
Posted by Tara C. Smith on July 15, 2008 So, as you’ve probably heard and read around here on Scienceblogs and elsewhere, filmmaker Randy Olson has made a new film about climate change. It’s billed as a “mockumentary,” and it’s certainly a mock…something. There are several nuggets of good stuff in the movie, but they unfortunately get lost in the distractions. More after the…
Summer reading 1: Lauri Lebo’s “Devil in Dover”
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 23, 2008 Many of you probably followed the 2005 “Kitzmiller vs. Dover” trial in Dover, Pennsylvania closely. From its early days, with daily updates at the Panda’s Thumb to the publication of the ruling–“Kitzmas”– in late December, the trial was filled with drama and moments right out of the movies. From the defendants’ remarkable lying on the…