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Re: [Phys-l] Another alternative theory horror



Cliff''s assessment of high school biology is true, but the same could be said about many courses in chemistry and physics as well. But let's talk about the biology classes.

I taught biology for over 25 of my years, overlapping with physics, environmental science, and science fair work. The emphasis on disconnected facts and details and on memorizing said facts and details (lists of phyla, anatomy of insect mouth parts, the bones of the leg and arm) made biology interesting to some, boring to others, and simply a chore to be overcome to many. Some of my colleagues actually got through almost the entire 700+ page textbook methodically, chapter by chapter. They were good teachers as far as it went because that was what the curriculum prescribed and they stuck by it. Some of us never really got through the zoology chapters and didn't even get to human biology or most of botany. We went into the new stuff, bringing in articles on new discoveries of biomedical research, fossil discoveries in Africa, and other things. The students liked both approaches equally. They really didn't like to *think* especially since they were told, *this was going to be on the final and you'd better memorize it.* Kids like to memorize things! The supervisor always told us to hurry along to catch up with our colleagues. The two or three of us who year after year seemed to lag behind because of our methods of having the kids research new things (back then there was no wikipedia or Google, and the school lacked computers anyway) still had exam scores that equalled those of the teachers who rammed memorization through to the end of the book. I can't close by claiming that kids raved over our approach, but they never complained either.

Marty


Cliff Parker wrote:

I agree with you completly however in my experience High School Biology is usualy taught without much thinking.

Facts are not science, the thinking,

explanations and processes are the science. Biology can't be taught
without thinking about these explanations and processes.

Leon


Steve Clark wrote:...

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Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
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_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l