Re: 2 million teachers in 2007!
- From: Glenn Knapp <kahuna@VCN.COM>
- Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 21:35:46 -0600
At 09:47 AM 20/08/99 -0500, you wrote:
>The recent interchange about the lunar eclipse is a good example
of how to
>deal with the breadth issue. One person observed
something, and asked a
>question about the model...why aren't there eclipses each
month? The
>teacher wisely said I don't know but perhaps we can find
out. An
>additional tack might have been..since we know there aren't
eclipses every
>month, what about our model might have to be modified...that
assumes of
>course that the model has been constructed. Then you do
what he did, you
>look for new information.
>I think some concerns about breadth are the result of
assumptions about
>the nature of science as a set of facts to be known rather than
a way of
>coming to know. The eclipse interchange was a good example
of dealing
>with the sorts of How do we know, why do we believe questions
that Arnold
>Arons has suggested are so important.
>I believe that if an elementary teacher has a good
although limited
>substratum of understanding, that teacher will be able to
creatively
>address question raised by students...not I didn't say answer
the students
>questions...why would one do that, as opposed to stimulating
their own
>inquiry.
Elementary children are often curious and can ask questions that
would cause even some of the more eminent physics scholars on this list
to think carefully before they framed a reply. One of the things
that I do with some of the elementary teachers (sadly, it's mostly the
ones who really like science) is to match up the little curious
elementary kids with one of my high school physics students.
Before they get into this, the physics students consider themselves
to have all the knowledge needed to deal with any question that a little
kid can come up with. They soon learn different. They then do some
joint research to find out the answers (if they can).
It's a learning experience for both.
Glenn
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Physics Kahuna
Kahuna Physics Institute - on the flapping edge of physics research.