On 9/29/2011 2:04 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> What's missing from most education these days is teaching of the
> scientific method.  Teaching students scientific facts just gives
> students something else to believe in.  Teaching how those facts were
> determined to be most likely true (and what process exists to allow that
> to change to "you know what, we were wrong about that") is more important
> than the facts themselves.
>

I thought they still pretty much do that. Granted real scientists don't 
follow the steps with absolute rigor. They may form an idea of what they 
think should happen, then test by experimentation, record their results, 
then try to repeat the results, then have peers repeat the results.

But I doubt they are as formal as:

     Define a question
     Gather information and resources (observe)
     Form an explanatory hypothesis
     Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data 
in a reproducible manner
     Analyze the data
     Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting 
point for new hypothesis
     Publish results
     Retest (frequently done by other scientists)

Some, and maybe all of that is happening, but it isn't done by filling 
out scientific method worksheets like I had to do in school.

> In short, a skill that isn't taught often enough is that of critical
> thinking.

Definitely. Rote memorization teaches nothing, except how to memorize.


-- 
~Mike

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Mike Raiford <"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com> wrote:
>      Define a question
>      Gather information and resources (observe)
>      Form an explanatory hypothesis
>      Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data 
> in a reproducible manner
>      Analyze the data
>      Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting 
> point for new hypothesis
>      Publish results
>      Retest (frequently done by other scientists)

  That list prominently lacks the crucial concepts of control(led testing)
and peer reviewing.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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On 30/09/2011 04:26 PM, Mike Raiford wrote:

> Some, and maybe all of that is happening, but it isn't done by filling
> out scientific method worksheets like I had to do in school.

Those scientific method worksheets we had to do at school... I work in a 
company where people perform ACTUAL SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS, and let me 
tell you, it looks /nothing like/ anything you saw at school!

(On the other hand, there /is/ an absurd amount of paperwork involved...)

> Definitely. Rote memorization teaches nothing, except how to memorize.

This.

I still think they should teach String Theory in schools - to 
demonstrate how even though something is widely respected, has brilliant 
people working on it, and involves amazingly complex mathematics, that 
doesn't make it science. Being testable makes it science.

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On 9/30/2011 8:32, Warp wrote:
>    That list prominently lacks the crucial concepts of control(led testing)
> and peer reviewing.

There's plenty of that. Co-students mocking you, and the teacher grading 
you. ;-)

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   How come I never get only one kudo?

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On 30/09/2011 05:38 PM, Darren New wrote:
> On 9/30/2011 8:32, Warp wrote:
>> That list prominently lacks the crucial concepts of control(led testing)
>> and peer reviewing.
>
> There's plenty of that. Co-students mocking you, and the teacher grading
> you. ;-)

Whereas in *real* scientice, it's other eminent scientists who mock you...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Orchid XP v8 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> On 30/09/2011 05:38 PM, Darren New wrote:
> > On 9/30/2011 8:32, Warp wrote:
> >> That list prominently lacks the crucial concepts of control(led testing)
> >> and peer reviewing.
> >
> > There's plenty of that. Co-students mocking you, and the teacher grading
> > you. ;-)

> Whereas in *real* scientice, it's other eminent scientists who mock you...

  That's the whole point. If your results stand up to that kind of
scrutiny, you're a winner. (See eg. the paper named "100 authors against
Einstein".)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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>>> There's plenty of that. Co-students mocking you, and the teacher grading
>>> you. ;-)
>
>> Whereas in *real* scientice, it's other eminent scientists who mock you...
>
>    That's the whole point. If your results stand up to that kind of
> scrutiny, you're a winner. (See eg. the paper named "100 authors against
> Einstein".)

What worries me is the possibility of a theory not being taken seriously 
because nobody likes it, rather than because the theory doesn't work...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:26:45 -0500, Mike Raiford wrote:

> On 9/29/2011 2:04 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> What's missing from most education these days is teaching of the
>> scientific method.  Teaching students scientific facts just gives
>> students something else to believe in.  Teaching how those facts were
>> determined to be most likely true (and what process exists to allow
>> that to change to "you know what, we were wrong about that") is more
>> important than the facts themselves.
>>
>>
> I thought they still pretty much do that. Granted real scientists don't
> follow the steps with absolute rigor. They may form an idea of what they
> think should happen, then test by experimentation, record their results,
> then try to repeat the results, then have peers repeat the results.

That happens in some classrooms, but it's not as widespread as it should 
be.

And we wonder why US students "fail" at math & science in the real world.

> But I doubt they are as formal as:
> 
>      Define a question
>      Gather information and resources (observe) Form an explanatory
>      hypothesis
>      Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data
> in a reproducible manner
>      Analyze the data
>      Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting
> point for new hypothesis
>      Publish results
>      Retest (frequently done by other scientists)
> 
> Some, and maybe all of that is happening, but it isn't done by filling
> out scientific method worksheets like I had to do in school.

I'm sure it isn't.

>> In short, a skill that isn't taught often enough is that of critical
>> thinking.
> 
> Definitely. Rote memorization teaches nothing, except how to memorize.

Exactly, and primary school is supposed to (or should be) be about 
learning how to learn rather than how to memorize.

Jim

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Le 2011/09/30 11:26, Mike Raiford a écrit :
> On 9/29/2011 2:04 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> What's missing from most education these days is teaching of the
>> scientific method. Teaching students scientific facts just gives
>> students something else to believe in. Teaching how those facts were
>> determined to be most likely true (and what process exists to allow that
>> to change to "you know what, we were wrong about that") is more important
>> than the facts themselves.
>>
>
> I thought they still pretty much do that. Granted real scientists don't
> follow the steps with absolute rigor. They may form an idea of what they
> think should happen, then test by experimentation, record their results,
> then try to repeat the results, then have peers repeat the results.
>
> But I doubt they are as formal as:
>
> Define a question
> Gather information and resources (observe)
> Form an explanatory hypothesis
> Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data in a
> reproducible manner
> Analyze the data
> Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point
> for new hypothesis
> Publish results
> Retest (frequently done by other scientists)
>
> Some, and maybe all of that is happening, but it isn't done by filling
> out scientific method worksheets like I had to do in school.
>
>> In short, a skill that isn't taught often enough is that of critical
>> thinking.
>
> Definitely. Rote memorization teaches nothing, except how to memorize.
>
>

The question is often in the form of:
I wonder what I could find if I watch this or that?
Is there anything hiding behind that?
What would appen if I do something <insert qualificatif>?
Is that wild legent, myth, urban legend, beleif,... actualy based on 
some fact?
What if that crack head could be onto something in his divagations?

Sometimes, it goes straight to perform some experiment, do some 
observations.

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> Mike Raiford<"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com>  wrote:
>>       Define a question
>>       Gather information and resources (observe)
>>       Form an explanatory hypothesis
>>       Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data
>> in a reproducible manner
>>       Analyze the data
>>       Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting
>> point for new hypothesis
>>       Publish results
>>       Retest (frequently done by other scientists)
>
>    That list prominently lacks the crucial concepts of control(led testing)
> and peer reviewing.
>

Look at the 4th and last points...

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