Science Education
clock | July 12, 2008There is an interesting discussion on [edit: Richard's blog on] Nature Network about the usefulness of science videos, like those published in JoVE, where methods and protocols are performed in front of the cameras and intentionally designed to be educational.
If you are a cell biologist, learning a new-to-you (but standard in the field) technique while studying at a Big Research University in the western world, it is likely that there will be several other cell biologists in your building who can guide you through the process better than a movie can, step-by-step, answering your questions,…
clock | July 12, 2008Abbie and PZ chat about the recent discoveries in biology, how exciting those discoveries are, and how annoying it is when Creationists try to put a damper on such excitement:
clock | July 10, 2008This is very cool - African Bushmeat Expedition is a project which takes high school students to Africa where they both learn the techniques and at the same time do something very useful - track the appearance of wild animal meat in the market:
Although illegal wildlife poaching is conducted worldwide, the impact in Africa has been devastating. Unsustainable commercial hunting for bushmeat will inevitably lead to species extinction. In turn, localized species extinction impacts the health of native ecosystems. Marketing of illegal bushmeat can also have serious ramifications because pathogens…
clock | July 9, 2008Jim Evans, my friend here at UNC, says Yes, in an interview with NYTimes, and again on NPR's People's Pharmacy. He teaches a course on genetics to judges:
A lot of judges report that they did prelaw in college because it did not involve science. One of my favorite judges, a brilliant man, is fond of telling people he "flunked science in kindergarten." So in these workshops, I think of myself as a newfangled type of science teacher, instructing extremely smart and distinguished adults in science fundamentals.
clock | July 9, 2008When I go around proselatizing for Open Access, I always try to remember to point out that the potential users are not just scientists and physicians in the developing world, or researchers at low-tier or community colleges, but also high schools. So, I was very happy to hear about the existence of Real Science, a website that uses the latest freely available research to use in classrooms:
Imagine teaching the latest science on the same day it appears in the newspapers.
Imagine the kick the kids will get when they say to their parents watching the news on TV: "We did that in school today. It…
jlynch | July 8, 2008Leah Ceccarelli in the Seattle Times:
My own research seeks to reveal what makes today's manufactroversies work. First, I've discovered that modern-day sophists skillfully invoke values that are shared by the scientific community and the public, such as free speech, skeptical inquiry and the revolutionary force of new ideas against a repressive orthodoxy. It is difficult to argue against someone who draws on these values without seeming unscientific or un-American.
Second, the modern sophists exploit the gap between the technical and public spheres. Scientific experts who can't spare the…
gregladen | July 4, 2008 Cletus From the National Center for Science Education:
Over the protests of leading scientific organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Biological Sciences, Louisiana's governor Bobby Jindal signed Senate Bill 733 into law, twenty-seven years after the state passed its Balanced Treatment for Evolution-Science and Creation-Science Act, a law overturned by the Supreme Court in 1987. News of Jindal's approval of the bill was buried in a press release issued on June 25, 2008, in which Jindal listed seventy-five bills he…
gregladen | July 3, 2008Christina Comer is suing the Texas Education agency. Here is a copy of the law suit. From the Dallas News:
AUSTIN - A former state science curriculum director filed suit against the Texas Education Agency and Education Commissioner Robert Scott on Wednesday, alleging she was illegally fired for forwarding an e-mail about a lecture that was critical of the teaching of intelligent design in science classes.
Also Online
Christina Comer, who lost her job at the TEA last year, said in a suit filed in federal court in Austin that she was terminated for contravening an unconstitutional policy…
gregladen | July 2, 2008... In the privacy of your own home or office, via the Intertubes!
Here is how the Lindau meetings describes itself:
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings provide a globally recognised forum for the exchange of knowledge between Nobel Laureates and young researchers. The original idea of the meetings goes back to the two Lindau physicians Dr. Franz Karl Hein und Professor Dr. Gustav Parade and Count Lennart Bernadotte af Wisborg, a member of the Swedish royal family who quickly became the spiritus rector behind the Meetings. It was he who envisioned the Meetings as a "window to the world" for…
evolgen | June 27, 2008PLoS Genetics has published an interview with Jenny Graves. Graves is one of the leaders in monotreme and marsupial genetics, and has been involved in some of the recent mammalian genome projects, including the platypus genome project (doi:10.1038/nature06936). She is also an expert in the evolution of mammalian sex chromosomes and sex determining genes. However, I'd like to point to a quote in PLoS Genetics' interview of Graves that deals with science education:
So I'm becoming very interested in education, particularly of young children, which is where I think the rot sets in. Science is…
gregladen | June 25, 2008
Click here for the full post by Gallup.
Far more Democrats believe in evolution than do those pesky Republicans. Interestingly, the configuration for "independents" looks just like the configuration for Democrats, not Republicans.
These results are mirrored, as usual, by the differential religiosity of these groups. God created or guided thinking is linked to going to church. and so on.
What is even more interesting is the upcoming/current issueof Skeptical Inquirer, which has a short article by ME in it, on a related issue.
John Lynch has also commented on this.
gregladen | June 24, 2008Continuing with our discussion of the Evolution 2008 conference ...
Yet another item from the first day of the conference, the pre-conference teachers day sponsored by Evolution 2008 and the Minnesota Citizens for Science Education (MnCSE) ...
The Minnesota Citizens for Science Education presented Ken Hubert with an award. I am blanking on the name of the award right now, but eventually, the MnCSE web site will probably have a page on this, or an announcement about it. (We need time for some dust to settle.)
Who is Ken Hubert?
Well, when it comes to the Evolution - Creationism 'debate…
tsmith | 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 stand to Behe's admission that his definition of a scientific theory included astrology, it seemed that each day was better than the last for the pro-science side, culminating in the stinging tongue-lashing doled out by Judge Jones in his decision in favor…
gregladen | June 22, 2008Continuing with our discussion of the Evolution 2008 conference ... many things have been going on and I have more to report than time to report it. But I will get to all of it, I assure you. Tonight, I just want to cover part of today's Education Symposium (moderated by your's truly) ... not all of it at once, thought, as it is kind of complex.
If you happen to work for the University of Minnesota or know anyone who does, best to not read this or let anyone know about it. This is a little to heavy to be spoken of openly. (Since there are only 11 of you who read my blog, I think we'll…
sporte | June 21, 2008Are you curious about Second Life?
Next week you can satisfy your curiosity and learn about the personal genomics frontier at the same time.
Bertalan Meskó announced that Erin Davis (science writer) and Joyce Tung (human geneticist) from 23andMe will be giving a presentation next week in Second Life on personalized genetics.
As travel costs rise and traveling becomes harder, I think we'll see many more things happening in alternative places like Second Life. Virtual environments like this can make on-line communication entertaining in ways that conference calls and webinars can't. I may…
gregladen | June 21, 2008Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines is a book by Caroline Arnold and illustrated by Patricia Wynne for, I'd say, Pre-Elementary School kids and first/second grade. This is a good book to read to a pre-literate kid. Then put it away for later when the first grade academic report on birds is due ... it will be an excellent reference.
This is a well done and highly recommended book.
Birds... is highly specialized. It deals with only one topic: Bird flight. I like that. Who needs just another book on birds. Demonstrating to the little ones that there are questions that can be…
clock | June 20, 2008New issue of the Italian Journal of Science Communication is out with some excellent articles (some translated or abstracted from Italian, all in English):
Cultural determinants in the perception of science:
Those studying the public understanding of science and risk perception have held it clear for long: the relation between information and judgment elaboration is not a linear one at all. Among the reasons behind it, on the one hand, data never are totally "bare" and culturally neutral; on the other hand, in formulating a judgment having some value, the analytic component intertwines -…
sciencewoman | June 17, 2008All the recent talk about engineers 'round these parts has got me feeling a bit left out. You see, back when I was a girl, my parents encouraged my interest in the natural world. And they encouraged my brother's interest in all things electrical and mechanical. Today, I'm a scientist and he's an engineer.
I'm not suggesting that my parents consciously or unconsciously steered me away from engineering because I was a girl. Rather, unlike my brother, I didn't get pushed toward it. It wasn't until after college that I realized, with my academic interests, I would have been better served by…