Science Education
sporte | June 22, 2006Science Blogs has asked: What makes a good science teacher?
Many of the science teachers that I've met can't really be described by the adjective "good." The better fitting words are: great, marvelous, inspiring, and fantastic.
But, SBer's want to know, "what makes them so great?" Right?
I've compiled a list of characteristics that I've seen all great science teachers share. And, since this group rarely gets sufficiently rewarded beyond seeing themselves in the annual edition of the Bio-Rad Explorer catalog, I'm even going to name names and give examples.
What characteristics do…
scientificactivist | June 22, 2006The latest word on the ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose fundraising challenge is that as of Tuesday the total amount of donations had reached $12,325.59, plus $10,000 in matching funds from Seed. Here at The Scientific Activist we've raised $345.00 in generous donations, bringing us to 7% of our ambitious goal of $5,000. That's great progress, but I know we can do even better than that! It's a great cause--helping to bring quality science education into our schools--and any donation, regardless of its size, is a positive step forward. To donate, click here!
"http://www.donorschoose.org/images…
tsmith | June 22, 2006Just as I'm finally answering last week's question comes a new one:
What makes a good science teacher?
Thoughts after the jump...
For me, I think it comes down to three E's: Education, Explanation, and Enthusiasm.
I'll start with education, since it's the most obvious. Clearly, one should know their stuff when they're teaching, whether it's to first-graders or college students.
However, it's often the case that with increasing education comes a decreased ability to explain basic concepts to a beginning audience. It can be tough to remember that not everyone understands all the…
clock | June 22, 2006This is one hundredth post since I moved to scienceblogs.com! Wow - that was fast! And only nine of those are re-published old posts from old blogs.
OK, tomorrow at noon will be the second septidieversary (two weeks, OK?) of this blog. Time to take stock again.
I got 183 comments in two weeks! Thank you all - that is great! Only a few of those I had to dig out of the Junk Folder. The spam-prevention software appears to be working just fine, especially for Trackbacks.
This blog is ranked 8th out of SEED scienceblogs in the total amount given by readers to the DonorsChoose educational…
clock | June 22, 2006 This is an early post of mine concerning the approaches to teaching science. It was first published on March 15, 2005. I have employed both of the methods described in this post since then. The jigsaw puzzle works much better as it is more fun. I have described how it actually went in the classroom here:
A few days ago, PZ Myers of the Pharyngula fame (not the pharyngula stage, though - much more advanced in development) wrote a post (that links to this article about creative ways to teach scientific method:
"I found that I had to teach the nature of science at both
the undergraduate…
clock | June 21, 2006I am a science teacher. I think I am actually a pretty good science teacher. So, it came to me as a surprise as how much I was baffled by the new SEED AskTheScienceBlogger question:
What makes a good science teacher?...
The answer, I guess, depends on the precise definitions of the words "makes", "good", "science" and "teacher".
[read the rest under the fold]
Is this the question about inherent talents shared by the good science teachers, or the methods one may use to turn a lousy or mediocre teacher into a good one?
Being extroverted helps. Being a natural performer helps. Loving…
scientificactivist | June 21, 2006Today, the Interacademy Panel on International Issues (IAP), an organization of 92 scientific academies from around the globe, released a statement endorsing the importance of teaching evolution as a fundamental scientific principle. The IAP emphasizes the following uncontested evolutionary facts:
In a universe that has evolved towards its present configuration for some 11 to 15 billion years, our Earth formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago.
Since its formation, the Earth - its geology and its environments - has changed under the effect of numerous physical and chemical forces and…
tsmith | June 20, 2006[From the archives; originally posted November 22, 2005]
Carl Zimmer has a post today about the work of Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry on the evolution of snake venom. If that name sounds familiar to those of you who aren't reptile specialists, you may have run across Dr. Fry's homepage, or you may have seen his research profiled previously on Panda's Thumb here, or you may have read comments by the good doc in this thread. Zimmer, as always, has an excellent overview of Fry et al's new paper in Nature (link ), but he didn't emphasize the one sneak peek I received from Bryan.
This tasty bit of…
clock | June 19, 2006 This is the first in a series of posts from Circadiana designed as ClockTutorials, covering the basics of the field of Chronobiology. It was first written on January 12, 2005:
There are traditionally three approaches to research and teaching of physiology: biochemical, energetic, and homeostatic. The three are by no means exclusive and all good physiologists will include all three in their work and teaching, but each with a different emphasis.
Biochemical approach is typical of human/medical physiology. Physiological mechanisms are described at lower and lower levels, until the molecules…
clock | June 19, 2006Sandra Porter was out of town, but now she's back and she is joining the DonorsChoose drive - the 20th scienceblogger to do so. Furthermore, she is adding some cool new prizes to the prize pool - check 'em out. Go to Sandy's challenge here.
Also, one of the non-scienceblog science blogs - the Northstate Science is joining the drive. Check out their projects.
Seven of my 25 programs have been funded so far, including the donations from five of my readers with a total of $582.52. Thank you!
Update: Janet has the full update on the SB drive.
scientificactivist | June 18, 2006As I've spent my entire weekend alternatively sitting in front of a ginormous magnet running NMR experiments and in front of a computer screen analyzing the data from those experiments, the blogging has unfortunately been light. However, I just wanted to give a quick update on the ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose Fundraising Drive that we kicked off last Thursday here on ScienceBlogs.
The most detailed rundown of the progress so far can be found at Adventures in Ethics and Science, although it's about a day old now. By midday yesterday, as a group ScienceBlogs had already raised $8498.73 to help…
evolgen | June 18, 2006Alan Packer at Free Association, the Nature Genetics blog, reports that Kossack Wesley Clark was once a fly pusher. During the Cold War (aka, before my time), gifted students were taught genetics in an accelerated course. They got to perform experiments using irradiated Drosophila melanogaster. As a stickler for details, I've got a couple errors to point out in the General's story:
And so, in the Federal Radiation Project, they talked to us and they taught us about genetics with the, the species was Drosophila melanogaster, which is the common fruit fly.
I feel like a broken record, but…
clock | June 17, 2006My readers have, so far, raised $557.52 and fully funded two of the 25 challenges [update: five of 25]! Way to go! Thank you. There is still plenty of time until July 1st to fund some more science teachers and their underprivileged students. Janet has an update on the entire ScienceBlogs challenge.
Apparently, readers of Pharyngula have already met and exceededthe goal after just two days!
Greta and Dave are matching your donations to their causes.
David and Benjamin will publish your haiku!
Ten copies of SAMS Teach Yourself Blogging in a Snap have been added to the prizes pool, so…
clock | June 16, 2006Last week we looked at the organ systems involved in regulation and control of body functions: the nervous, sensory, endocrine and circadian systems. This week, we will cover the organ systems that are regulated and controlled. Again, we will use the zebra-and-lion example to emphasize the way all organ systems work in concert to maintain the optimal internal conditions of the body:
So, if you are a zebra and you hear and see a lion approaching (sensory systems), the brain (nervous system) triggers a stress-response (endocrine system). This is likely to happen during the day, as the…
sporte | June 16, 2006Blogging from Bio-Link, part III
High school teachers have different techniques for selling their students on the benefits of science and math. When some high school instructors step in front of a class, the quiet demeanor gets put away and another persona steps out - the USED-CAR SALESMAN SCIENCE EVANGELIST. Science is no longer "science," when these instructors head up the class, it's SCIENCE, in all capital letters! Other teachers choose the haughty law professor, from "The Paper Chase," as a role model, even though a post-law student friend of mine thought it should be banned from…
evolgen | June 16, 2006The ScienceBlogs Donors Choose program kicked off with a bang yesterday. Evolgen is attempting to raise a modest $500 dollars to fund in class projects for public school science classes. There are fourteen proposals to choose from in the evolgen challenge, which will run for the next two weeks. As an added incentive, if you forward your conformation email to sb.donorschoose.bonanza@gmail.com you will be entered into a contest to win some schwag (see here for a breakdown of the prizes).
Additionally, SEED has guaranteed to match whatever money we raise (up to $10,000). If you were apathetic…
clock | June 16, 2006It is impossible to cover all organ systems in detail over the course of just two lectures. Thus, we will stick only to the basics. Still, I want to emphasize how much organ systems work together, in concert, to maintain the homeostasis (and rheostasis) of the body. I'd also like to emphasize how fuzzy are the boundaries between organ systems - many organs are, both anatomically and functionally, simultaneously parts of two or more organ systems. So, I will use an example you are familiar with from our study of animal behavior - stress response - to illustrate the unity of the well-…
scientificactivist | June 16, 2006Lurking beneath the surface here at ScienceBlogs is a force that compels people to do extremely gimmicky things on Fridays. Since I know that I'm no better than anyone else, I've decided to join in on the fun. Therefore, I introduce to you Fantastical Fridays at The Scientific Activist. From now on, every Friday I'll take a break from the more serious scientific activism to explore the stranger, more outlandish, and in general more lighthearted aspects of science.
Today's installment of Fantastical Fridays brings you a fascinating discovery reported in 2003: the creation of tiny people,…
clock | June 15, 2006Janet has the update on our educational fundraiser. People are pitching in, a little bit of money at a time. But....but, where are my readers?! Only $10 so far?! Come on - I know you can do better than that! Click here:
Help public school kids through my DonorsChoose challenge!
tsmith | June 15, 2006As Janet has surely mentioned by now, we're kicking off a The ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose raise-money-to-help-science-classrooms-a-thon!
I write a lot on here about science education. Indeed, that's a big motivator for having this site at all. Science is endlessly fascinating, and it's a pleasure to have the means to share some of my own love of the area with y'all. But of course, appreciation for science can--and should--start long before adulthood. I know I had some great teachers in elementary, junior high, and high school who made math and science interesting, but it's a tough job, made…