Is a STEM program the best guide for improving our schools? STEM—the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—is advertised as “innovative learning,” and “the future of the economy.” That’s what you see when you type <STEM education> into a Google search. Continue reading
Blog Posts and Writings Tagged: education
Blog 113. Information, misinformation and survival
Scientific news magazines now feature articles that reach out, not only to scientists, but to the educated public. The journal Physics Today, once of interest only to physicists, now has a section entitled People and History. How come? Continue reading
Blog 110. Climate in one picture
The present temperature is not the key index to predicting the future climate any more than the current temperature in a cold room tells how warm it will be if you add insulation to the walls. It’s knowing the insulation that’s important for prediction. Below is a drawing that explains earth’s energy budget—as affected by the insulation of the atmosphere— in one glance. Continue reading
Blog 98. Minecraft or Mindcraft?
“You’ve got these kids, and they’re creating these worlds, and they think they’re just playing a game, but they have to solve some of the hardest problems facing humanity.” Continue reading
Blog 96. Where did solar buildings go?
When I say “solar building,” I don’t mean a house, or a school, or a parking shed, or some other building with photovoltaic panels on the roof. Continue reading
Blog 85. Should scientists become advocates?
Scientists are committed to tell the truth, as best they can from the measurements they make in the physical world. But you can’t apply a scientific statement, however true, to just any situation. Continue reading
Blog 78. The teen brain–rebel or recruit?
A newborn’s brain immediately learns who his mother is, but a teen’s brain seems to busy itself with learning what his mother forbids. We recognize that teens rebel. But they also join, seeking meaning as recruits for cults or terrorists. Continue reading
Blog 73. Money Sources and Sinks in Corporate-style Education
If state legislatures are stingy, where can public universities go to get the income that pays their administrators very well, while paying their lower-ranked faculty [1] less than well? Continue reading