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Podcast
Science Education: Michael Moynihan on the Need for a New Synthesis
featuring Michael MoynihanScience Education: Michael Moynihan on the Need for a New Synthesis
The problem with science education today is not that it is too scientific at the expense of being philosophic or Christian. The problem is that it is not scientific enough such that it has often become dogmatic rather than data-driven. This week on HeightsCast we talk with upper school head Michael Moynihan about a new initiative of his on the Forum: the Initiative for the Renewal of Science Education. In the episode, Michael discusses the need for a new synthesis in the liberal arts, combining the best of modern...
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Article
A More Scientific Approach to Science Education
by Michael MoynihanA More Scientific Approach to Science Education
Not scientific? A serious problem in science education today is an ironic one: science education too often fails to be scientific. This is admittedly an odd statement. How can science education be non-scientific? Isn’t anything to do with presenting scientific knowledge necessarily scientific? Science education today too often fails to proceed in a scientific manner, in a manner that fosters both scientific understanding and thinking. The problem is not with what is being taught. For the most part, the scientific knowledge that is being conveyed is accurate and scientific enough....
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Article
Teaching Students the Nature of Science
by Pete BancroftTeaching Students the Nature of Science
Teaching students the nature of science My former student Finn, when asked the cause of some chemical property or reaction, would often answer by saying, “SCIENCE!” This was pronounced in stentorian tones with expansive gestures, which, together with his jumbo-sized hairdo, created an impression. It was tongue-in-cheek, of course; he did not literally believe that Science was some sort of mysterious and powerful agent causing physical phenomena–it was just a humorous way of admitting he didn’t know an answer. We sometimes do encounter, though, people who speak of Science as...
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Article
Teaching Scientific Modeling
by Pete BancroftTeaching Scientific Modeling
The power of models Although each science in the curriculum has its own lens through which it looks at nature or society, they are united by a common approach. Modern science can be described as an ongoing process of developing and deploying models—not model airplanes or runway models, of course, but simplified representations of complicated objects or systems. Models help us understand things by focusing on their essential features and leaving out the incidental or less important details. Developing a model involves applying inductive reasoning to things or phenomena to...
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Article
Science, Theories, and Truth: The Epistemic Status of Modern Scientific Knowledge
by Dan MurphyScience, Theories, and Truth: The Epistemic Status of Modern Scientific Knowledge
Introduction Science has done some remarkable things. From Thales’ prediction of a solar eclipse in 585 BC to the detection of gravitational waves in September 2015, from enabling heart transplants to enabling of the atomic bomb, science has made many impressive, useful, and powerful contributions that sometimes change history. Science also influences our day-to-day life in ways we rarely notice. Every time you turn on the lights, run the dishwasher, use your phone, or drive your car down the highway, it is an incarnation of multiple scientific theories. But what...
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Article
Telling the Story of Science
by Dan MurphyTelling the Story of Science
The story of science is one that is often left untold in our classrooms today. This is an unfortunate situation, especially when we consider the words of Alexis de Tocqueville from The Old Regime and the Revolution describing the events leading up to the French Revolution. History… is a picture gallery containing a host of copies and very few originals.[1] The history of science is no different. Among the host of copies, we find scientists carrying out the normal processes of science to make slow and steady progress, but we...