It is not unusual (we've certainly been doing it on this list) to use
'religious' rhetoric to describe pedagogical movements. This is often done
in a disparaging way (intentionally or not). I think that this tendency
arises from the the way certain people, after rediscovering a teaching
method from a hundred or two thousand years ago, now see its modern
adaptation as the 'best' method of all times--if you will, 'the one true
way'. Now this has been defended because of the 'research' results--thus no
faith is involved. Or is there? One can even 'require' that physical
science is based on faith--faith that we can actually observe and measure
reality or that human logic actually produces meaningful results. Most of
us basically brush that aside saying something like 'well if we don't accept
observation and logic' then it is impossible to even try and understand the
world around us. Others (certain oriental religions and philosophies) might
argue even that point. When it comes to accepting psychological
experimentation and results (basically educational research), the 'leap of
faith' is, IMO, a bit broader. The plethora of variables and the
possibilities of 'rigging' the experiments (unconsciously in most cases)
makes things a little less clear. Using a single study here or there to
'prove' a point doesn't work well for me. Ultimately, the only real 'proof'
is the end product--the people coming out of the 'new' pedagogy
pipeline--and there the results are still pretty fuzzy, I think. Locally
(Chemistry sections of the same course taught both using inquiry and not)
aren't showing clear patterns downstream. So, it is still not surprising
that course and techniques designed to attack a given topic, a given
misconception, to score higher on the FCI, or whatever, show positive
results. That these courses prove to produce better scientists, engineers,
doctors, or just plain citizens upon graduation, is less clear. If PER is
working its way through the ranks of HS teachers, I don't think many of us
at the College level have yet to see the benefits in many (if any) or our
students. Measuring the results from new College courses is even more
difficult.
The message being broadcast by some, is a 'my way or the highway' message
that seems too over the top. If nothing else, that message has the effect
of disparaging the efforts of many of us over our many years of work. Don't
be surprised then, that the rhetoric fails to make many friends. ;-)
Rick [Who suggests toning the message down to--this method or that method
appears to be really valuable in addressing this type of understanding or
that needed skill. Why not try it out?]
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Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN
rtarara@saintmarys.edu
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Free Physics Software
PC & Mac
www.saintmarys.edu/~rtarara/software.html
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