[Phys-l] Is Scientifically-based Education an Oxymoron?

[Richard Hake <rrhake@earthlink.net>]

Some physics educators may be interested in a recent post "Is 
Scientifically-based Education an Oxymoron?" [Hake (2009)].

The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT:  Jerry Bracey in his book "Education Hell: Rhetoric vs. 
Reality" listed what he regarded as 10 lessons from the 1942 
"Eight-Year Study" of 1942, in which more than 30 high schools in the 
1930s were encouraged to try non-traditional approaches to teaching. 
Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews then (a) repeated 
Bracey's 10 lessons along with comments by Bracey and by himself, and 
(b) bravely invited his readers to kick sand in the faces of Bracey 
and himself by letting him know which of the Bracey/Mathews comments 
were most inane."  Taking Mathews at his word, in my view the most 
inane Bracey/Mathews comments center around Bracey's Lesson #8 that 
SCIENTIFICALLY BASED EDUCATION IS AN OXYMORON.  If this lesson is 
correct then it would appear that the following authors all have 
their heads buried in the sand: David Hestenes (1979), Edward (Joe) 
Redish (1999), Richard Shavelson & Lisa Towne (2002) and members of 
the National Academy's "Committee on Scientific Principles for 
education research," Paula Heron & David Meltzer (2005), Carl Wieman 
(2007), and Richard Hake (2007).
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To access the complete 24 kB post, please click on <http://tinyurl.com/n9cyjy>.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands.
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/>
<http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com/>


REFERENCES
Hake, R.R. 2009. "Is Scientifically-based Education an Oxymoron?" 
online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://tinyurl.com/n9cyjy>. 
Post of 7 Jul 2009 17:03:51-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold.