Comments for BioBlog

Comment on how do we teach students to question what we say? by Alison Campbell

Alison Campbell — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:45:02 +0000

I do like the post you linked to :-) The rise of ID isn’t quite such an issue here, although it hits the media from time to time. I did a keynote for a teachers’ conference a year or so ago now, from the perspective of why ID isn’t science. (My colleague David Penny also spoke; he took the view that we can compare the predictions made by ID & by evolutionary biology & show why the former gets an epic ‘fail’ from the science point of view. However, I’m not sure that’s an approach I’d take with younger children.)

I’ve seen the argument that children can’t learn the skills of critical thinking raised more than once. I have to disagree – it depends what you’re wanting them to learn & how you present it. From time to time I run sessions for 12-13-yr-old kids, focussing on various pseudoscientific claims & asking them to think about said claims using the tools of science. They usually do just fine, which gives me some hope for the future :-)

Comment on how do we teach students to question what we say? by fugue137

fugue137 — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:14:21 +0000

Nice!

I wrote something a while back, when I first started seeing the rise of fundamentalist Christian dogma in our national science curriculum. It’s not carefully written, mostly just a thought that I wanted to get down, but here it is:

http://ml.cs.colorado.edu/~ben/writing/LieForOurFuture.html

I have received one or two comments from educators telling me that children below a certain age _cannot_ learn skepticism, and _must_ have facts and role models and whatnot. Sadly I am no longer a teaching assistant and so I haven’t followed up on anything to do with education and development. But I think it’s pretty safe to say that the age at which we offer any degree of power to our citizens had better be greater than the age at which they learn to develop a nose for misinformation.

Cheers!

Comment on $60 a time by rainman

rainman — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:48:50 +0000

Ah yes, a familiar lesson and one I confess I learned the hard way during my time at Uni. If only science could come up with a way to convince teenagers that not everything their parents say is bunk!

Comment on happy darwin day! by Darcy Cowan

Darcy Cowan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:40:11 +0000

D’oh, totally forgot this year.

Comment on the 8-glasses-a-day myth by Alison Campbell

Alison Campbell — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:28:42 +0000

What galls me is that the people giving this advice genuinely seem to believe it. And because they’re called ‘nutritionist’ or some such, the readers probably think, oh that’s OK then, s/he must know what s/he’s talking about. Sigh.

Comment on the 8-glasses-a-day myth by Jean

Jean — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:13:17 +0000

Nice one Alison! It must have been surreal to read that on a cross-trainer.

Comment on what’s your ‘risk intelligence quotient’? by Darcy Cowan

Darcy Cowan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:42:43 +0000

Apparently mine is 87, interestingly I’m reading a paper looking at how people in powerful positions are more likely to assess risk more optimistically and perform more risk-seeking actions.

Comment on what’s your ‘risk intelligence quotient’? by Aimee Whitcroft

Aimee Whitcroft — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:20:35 +0000

Mine’s sitting around there too :)

Comment on why dogs live shorter lives by Aimee Whitcroft

Aimee Whitcroft — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:46:17 +0000

* sniff *

Comment on grumpiness is best? by Grant Jacobs

Grant Jacobs — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:06:28 +0000

Should I be grumpy more often so that I’m perceived as having “an advanced nature” and more “evolved” that most of humanity? :-)

Say, think about it, we’re all grumpy about the Herald article…