Anna Kuchment, formerly a science writer and editor for Newsweek and now with Scientific American, has blogged an intense criticism of the way science is being taught in American schools. Based on a new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute it shows that American science standards are "mediocre to awful." The studies lead authors found four essential factors in this progressing mediocrity:
Finally, the report noted that few states make the link between math and science clear. In its own words: "Mathematics is integral to science. Yet .. many [states] seem to go to great lengths to avoid mathematical formulae and equations altogether."
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/budding-scientist/2012/02/01/u-s-state-science-standards-are-mediocre-to-awful/
Comments by the Blog Author
The scientific method is clearly and entirely integrated into logical argumentation, for which mathematical proofs are the highest form of logical certainty. The scientific method is a highly ranked form of argument. The double-blind test, used in medicine, is a related technique for which it is possible to know absolutely whether or not something is an effective treatment even though the step-by-step process itself remains unknown.
It’s impossible to understand this effectively without being "enumerate," which is to say knowledgeable about mathematics. Similarly, it is not possible to be accurately skeptical about quasi-scientific methods (such as mathematical modelling, which substitutes "iterations" for actual laboratory findings) without knowing mathematics.
An educated person in the twenty-first century should understand that evolution is a scientific fact in spite of the situation that our knowledge remains incomplete about all of the exact steps of evolution.
A failure to teach science and mathematics to the young raises a generation that can be easily conned and swayed by untruths. And that’s where we are in America these days.
- Undermining of evolution
- Vague goals
- Not enough guidance so teachers can integrate the history of science and the concept of scientific inquiry into their lessons
- Not enough math instruction
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/budding-scientist/2012/02/01/u-s-state-science-standards-are-mediocre-to-awful/
Comments by the Blog Author
The scientific method is clearly and entirely integrated into logical argumentation, for which mathematical proofs are the highest form of logical certainty. The scientific method is a highly ranked form of argument. The double-blind test, used in medicine, is a related technique for which it is possible to know absolutely whether or not something is an effective treatment even though the step-by-step process itself remains unknown.
It’s impossible to understand this effectively without being "enumerate," which is to say knowledgeable about mathematics. Similarly, it is not possible to be accurately skeptical about quasi-scientific methods (such as mathematical modelling, which substitutes "iterations" for actual laboratory findings) without knowing mathematics.
An educated person in the twenty-first century should understand that evolution is a scientific fact in spite of the situation that our knowledge remains incomplete about all of the exact steps of evolution.
A failure to teach science and mathematics to the young raises a generation that can be easily conned and swayed by untruths. And that’s where we are in America these days.
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