Educator

Science may be "under attack" by some politicians in the United States but the problem is really much deeper. Nearly 1 in 2 Americans think there is no evidence for climate change or think it is due to natural causes. Approximately 1 in 4 Americans (and 1 out of 3 Europeans) think the Sun revolves around the Earth. Nine out of 10 Americans can't explain basic phenomena like the cause of the seasons nor the phases of the Moon (yes, even at Harvard). ~5 decades ago we sent 12 men to the Moon. Then we stopped going. Many Americans now think that the Moon landings are a Hollywood hoax. July 20, 2019 will be the 50th Anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the Moon. There is more technology and computational power in our smartphones than was in the computers used to put those 2 men on the Moon. It is a terrible irony that at a time of great scientific and technological advancements, that scientific illiteracy is at an all time high. 

We teach science poorly, our kids are not learning science, and therefore, we produce fewer and fewer scientists and engineers. At 5 years of age, every kid is a scientist! They are asking questions about the world around them and why things work the way they do. Then something happens. We spend the next ~20 years beating their innate curiosity and inquisitiveness about their world out of them. In fact, almost twice as many bachelor’s degrees were awarded in physics the year before Sputnik, deemed a time of dangerous educational neglect, than in 2007! The launch of Sputnik was a galvanizing moment in the history of our country and you can trace the start of the “Space Race” to that singular event. It started an enormous investment in science, in engineering, and in education by our government. Yet today we are doing worse than the year before Sputnik was launched.

What does it mean to our country if our society is scientifically illiterate? Does it matter? What does it mean for our country's future prosperity and economic growth? Will American leadership in science and engineering be maintained in the coming years? What about our future capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship? And what does attacks on science mean for the future of our planet? Americans two generations ago walked on the Moon. What is our legacy? These are some the questions I’ve thought about and spoken about within my community. I think we are at an important crossroads in the United States. We need to engage and have deep, meaningful conversations with the American public about the nature and role of science in our country, how we teach it, and why it is critically important that we encourage many more young Americans to consider careers in science and engineering.  While these are large, national problems, the solutions are local and begin in our communities.

So how do we engage with our students to learn science? To stoke their innate curiosity about the natural world? What we've been doing clearly isn't working as study after study shows our students aren't learning science, we don't teach it well, and that our students graduate high school and even college holding fundamental science misconceptions about the natural world. Some of this content -- cause of the seasons, phases of the moon, Earth's path around the Sun, etc -- is taught in elementary/middle school. Students learn science by doing science. They need to be the scientist. Play is the sandbox of science. 

Physics is not simply a collection of facts and formulas although our students want to see it that way. Science is a mode of thought that allows us to critically engage our world and attempt to understand why things work the way they do. I want my students, motivated by curiosity and creativity, to see science at work in their everyday lives, to have the ability and confidence to know that they, too, can understand how the Universe works.

One way I've had my students play and become the scientist in my classroom is to have them investigate how widespread various common scientific misconceptions are is to learn how pervasive it is amongst their peers. Students pick a basic of question of science at the beginning of the semester (something they should know before starting high school typically), they dig into their misconception by first understanding it themselves but then also asking random students outside of the classroom their question. Their investigation must explore reasons why their peers may hold an incorrect misconception about our Natural World. The final product isn't an essay or group presentation. It is a short, edited, YouTube video that introduces the basic scientific question they are exploring, pursue why our society may hold these basic misconceptions, and also presents the correct model that explains the phenomenon they are investigating. You can find their stories in the "Common Science Misconceptions Explained?" tab.