"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

Albert Einstein

Adam Bly on science education and scientific literacy [Updated with my response]

August 25, 2010

Features, Science, Society, Some Comments

1 comment

[Originally posted May, 15, 2009]
(This semester our class had the opportunity to have Adam Bly of Seed Media Group as a guest speaker. I asked him his opinion on the role of education in scientific literacy, specifically for the piece I wrote and posted here earlier. The following is the response he sent me. Thanks Adam!)

At the heart of how I feel about science education is the idea that science should be used as a lens through which to look at the world, not just a subject to be taught. And further; science education goes on forever and should be available to everyone.

We live in a world where we now produce more information in a year than in all prior human history combined. Graduating college no longer means you know the essentials of your field. Fields merge and change with new data. Walls between scientific disciplines are torn down. Education must run parallel with any successful pursuit of a profession. We now see universities cater to this new reality. Many universities offer their course material for free. It’s a great model. What the universities can still offer exclusively to their paying students, is valuable access to professors and a network of other students.

But the bigger picture in my view of science education is a scientifically literate nation. That’s the goal. To have a population that understands scientific concepts and processes is more crucial to the progress of our country, than churning out a certain number of scientists and engineers.

In order to translate this ideal to the classrooms, teachers and anyone else in charge of shaping curriculums, must acknowledge science as a prime driving force in society. The teaching of natural sciences should be as actively connected to and engaged in current events and advancements as the social sciences are. Science education needs to be connected to science news.
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more than words…

April 10, 2009

Misc, Science, Society

3 comments

First post!

A few interesting things:

  • The Empire State building is getting retrofitted!
  • I met Adam Bly of Seed Media Group on Tuesday. He is the Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of SEED magazine.
  • I have rediscovered my love for the song “More than words” by Extreme, but now I also love the version played by Sungha Jung (see below).
  • I’m going to see Jake Shimabukuro on May 3rd when he is coming to NYC.

This blog will be dedicated to musings that are scientific, cultural, technological, political, and really anything else relevant in today’s world. I am a scientist by training, so many of these topics will be approached from that perspective but with an interdisciplinary twist because that is what I like to do.

Being in NYC gives great opportunities to meet people, go to talks and lectures, and generally be out there. I hope to write about those experiences a little and relate them to current events. I’ll also give my opinions and interpretations of things I’ve seen, heard or read.

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