[Osta-board] Fwd: [Astrolrner at CAE] Moderator Monday: STEM Overrated?

Mon Oct 29 11:04:22 PDT 2012

I thought the article was interesting as well as the rebuttals.
Holly Bensel

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ryan S. Lynch <rlynch at physics.mcgill.ca>
Date: Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 10:42 AM
Subject: Re: [Astrolrner at CAE] Moderator Monday: STEM Overrated?
To: astrolrner at yahoogroups.com
Cc: "Melissa N. Hayes-Gehrke" <mhayesge at umd.edu>

**

**

Thanks for sharing this!  I read all three articles in the series (the one
linked below, plus the original NY Times op-ed arguing against teaching
algebra widely and the one in support of teaching algebra).  I think they
all bring up important questions.  In particular, the two that argue for
dropping algebra ask why we teach students skills that they won't use?

I see several reasons (too many to list here).  The first is that there is
a difference between direct and indirect usage.  It is true that most
people probably never directly use the quadratic formula after high school
or college, but they may still use the basic skills they learned along the
way.  I think going down the route of teaching only ultra-specific skills
(how the CPI is computed is the example given in the NY Times article) is
very dangerous.  You may feel confident in picking a set of quantitative
skills to teach for today, but we live in a rapidly changing world and it
is important to understand the underlying concepts behind those skills so
that you can transfer them, even if only indirectly, to new areas as they
develop.

A second reason is that if we should keep doors open for students as long
as possible, instead of forcing them into a certain career path when they
are too young to really know what they want to do.  One of the authors
suggests teaching students higher skills only in subjects they are
interested in.  Well, let's say that I focused on becoming a writer and
didn't learn algebra, but then decided in college that I wanted to be a
scientist.  That path would be effectively closed to me.  I think college
is a good time for specialization, but not HS or earlier.

Another reason is that if we only teach higher concepts in fields students
are interested in, we are probably not going to see many going into STEM
fields.  Most kids don't grow up wanting to become engineers, but these are
fields that drive the economy and will do so in the future.  We need to
actively encourage people to explore a wider variety of fields (STEM being
one of many) and create a solid foundation for succeeding in any of them.

I think it is certainly true that we should revisit how we teach subjects
like math (and really, all subjects), but I think it would be very unwise
to erode the foundations of a rounded education for what seems to me to be
expediency.

Having said all that, I think the articles ask a second important question,
and that is, just what exactly are the practical benefits of STEM
education? I just asserted one above (high-tech economy), but I am actually
not familiar with rigorous studies that demonstrate that more STEM for more
people leads to better economic (or other) measures.  I'd be *very*
interested in anyone who can share something like that, because as a
scientist I should be in the business of having hard facts to back up my
assertions, and, embarrassingly, on this front I don't.

Ryan Lynch

On 29/10/12 12:29 PM, Melissa N. Hayes-Gehrke wrote:

It's time for our next Moderator Monday post. My classes have been
canceled today for Hurricane Sandy, so I'm thinking about how I can fit
in the material we're missing today!

This article "No, algebra isn't necessary - and yes, STEM is overrated"
appeared on The Washington Post's website a couple months ago:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/no-algebra-isnt-necessary--and-yes-stem-is-overrated/2012/08/26/edc47552-ed2d-11e1-b09d-07d971dee30a_blog.html

If you're on this email list, I would think that you disagree with this
article. (If not, let us know why!)

1. How would you rebut the author's claims?

2. How can we as astronomers and educators make it clearer to our
students and the general public the value of learning science? After
all, for many of our students, our intro astro course may be their last
science course EVER.

Melissa Hayes-Gehrke
mhayesge at umd.edu

-- 
Ryan S. Lynch
Postdoctoral Scholar | Astrophysics Outreach Co-Chair
McGill University
Office: Room 226       Phone: (514)-398-6520
3600 Rue University
Montreal, QC H3A 2T8

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-- 
Holly Bensel
When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.
Walt Disney

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