EA

On Industrial Arts

This post is in response to a recent tweet (and toot): Makerspaces are fine, but they are really a poor substitute for the "indistrial arts" and "home economics" shops and kitchens and well-supplied art studios we had in the 1970's and 1980's. Yes, I realize this post can be labled "back in my day things Read More

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Gregor Mendel- Lessons on Politics and Science

Science is a valuable endeavor for humans. It is through these efforts to understand how nature works that we fulfil our curiosity, contemplate our place in the universe, improve the health of humans, and otherwise affect our environments. Of course, when scientific discoveries are used to create technological “solutions,” things get far more complicated. In Read More

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On Research

In cleanout out some files, I found a document containing the “working definition” of research the I presented to a group of science teachers who were refreshing the roles of lab activities, science fairs, and similar activities in their school. Although written in 2014, it still seems accurate: This working definition assumes: Research seeks to Read More

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Students’ Experiences Matter

Teaching is an inherently wicked problem. (This idea has been addressed multiple times in this blog– search for “wicked.”) In 1973, scholars Rittel and Webber defined wicked problems as those that are ill-defined and that are judged only from the perspective of the individual who experienced the solution. A defining characteristic of wicked problems is Read More