Re: Scientific illiteracy can kill the planet

Some blog followers may be interested in a recent discussion list post titled “Re: Scientific illiteracy can kill the planet” [Hake (2011b] reproduced below:

Art Hobson (2011) in his Physoc post “Scientific illiteracy can kill the planet” wrote [paraphrasing; my inserts at “. . . .[[insert]]. . . .”]:

“U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky). . . . .[[ http://whitfield.house.gov/ and http://whitfield.house.gov/issues/energy.shtml]]. . . . is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power . . . . .[[ http://energycommerce.house.gov/]]. . . . .. His scientific illiteracy - as reported in the NYT by Marshall & Lehmann (2011) - worries me. But the likely scientific illiteracy of the people who elected him worries me a lot more. . . .[[see the caricatures of a voter and Whitfield on page 13 of Hake (2011) near the panel “Scientifically illiterate voters elect scientifically illiterate leaders”]].... Physics teachers can and should help. We need to teach societal topics such as climate change and, more importantly, critical thinking in our introductory courses.”

And even more importantly work to upgrade the science/math education of prospective K-12 teachers.

In "Should the Culture of University Science Education Be Changed?"[Hake (2011a) I wrote [bracketed by lines "HHHHH. . . .":

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In a recent Science article “Changing the Culture of Science Education at Research Universities” [Anderson et al. (2011)], thirteen biology research scientists, all Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellows, deplore the prevalent university reward systems that “heavily weights efforts of many professors toward research at the expense of teaching.” They advocate seven initiatives that might help to address “widespread concern about educating enough scientists and scientifically literate citizens." Of primary concern in this essay is Initiative #1: "Educate faculty about research on learning. . . ." This is especially important if faculty are to play a prominent role in adequately educating prospective K-12 teachers, who might then, in turn, enhance the science/math literacy of the general population.

In that regard, I review an essay “The General Population's Ignorance of Science Related Societal Issues: A Challenge for the University” [Hake (2000)] based on an earlier libretto The Science Illiteracy Crisis: A Challenge for the University [Hake (1989)], with the leitmotiv: “The road to U.S. science literacy begins with effective university science courses for pre-college teachers.” The opera dramatizes the fact that the failure of universities throughout the universe to properly educate pre-college teachers is responsible for our failure to observe any signs of extraterrestrial intelligence.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which
Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
rrhake@earthlink.net
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake
http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi
http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com
http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake

“As the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, Rep. Whitfield continues to advance an 'All of the Above' energy strategy that will employ Kentuckians and address domestic energy demands without unnecessary government regulation that results in higher energy prices, delayed resource exploration or stunted job growth. Rep. Whitfield is especially concerned that overreaching government regulations will have a negative effect on America's coal industry, which creates more than 134,000 jobs directly and supports 3.4 million jobs indirectly across the nation. In Kentucky, 17,900 jobs are created directly by coal.”
Whitfield's Energy Policy http://whitfield.house.gov/issues/energy.shtml

“Paleoclimate data help us assess climate sensitivity and potential human-made climate effects. . . . . . goals to limit human-made warming to 2 deg C are not sufficient - they are prescriptions for disaster. . . . . Rapid reduction of fossil fuel emissions is required for humanity to succeed in preserving a planet resembling the one on which civilization developed.”
Hansen & Sato (2011) - Hansen http://bit.ly/omiMY3 heads the
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

“With the world population now at 6 billion . . .[On 21 July 2011 10:22-0700 world population was 6,950,419,151 - see http://1.usa.gov/j2u6Gw]. . . ., we are already consuming 40% of the world's photosynthetic energy production. Current estimates place a stable world population at about 8 to 10 billion by the late twenty-first century, assuming fertility rates continue to drop over the next several decades. Yet even at this reduced rate of population growth, we could eventually consume all of the planet's resources, unless we take action. Because of this overload of the world's resources, even today, over 1.2 billion of the world's population live below the subsistence level, and 500 million below the minimum caloric intake level necessary for life.”
- James Duderstadt (2000, page 20), President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan


REFERENCES [All URL's accessed on 20 July 2011; some shorted by https://bitly.com/]
Anderson, W.A., U. Banerjee, C.L. Drennan, S.C.R. Elgin, I.R. Epstein, J. Handelsman, G.F. Hatfull, R. Losick, D.K. O'Dowd, B.M. Olivera, S.A. Strobel, G.C. Walker, I.M. Warner. 2011. “Changing the Culture of Science Education at Research Universities: Universities must better recognize, reward, and support the efforts of researchers who are also excellent and dedicated teachers,” Science, 14 January, 331(6014): 152-153: online as a 172 kB pdf at http://bit.ly/eSLoCl ; supporting online references suggested by R.R. Hake are at http://bit.ly/g24Iqm [over 75 references and 90 hot links relevant to (1) Undergraduate Education Reform, and (2) Biology Education Reform.

Duderstadt, J.J. 2000. A University for the 21st Century. Univ. of Michigan Press; for a description see http://bit.ly/cvJ1yI. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/lxT8YU.

Hake, R.R. 2000. “The General Population's Ignorance of Science Related Societal Issues: A Challenge for the University,” AAPT Announcer 30(2): 105; online as a 2.1 MB pdf at http://bit.ly/9LxKOL .

Hake, R.R. 2011a. Invited talk, “Should the Culture of University Science Education Be Changed,” Southern California Section of the AAPT, 14 May 2011, Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA; online as a 3.2 MB pdf at http://bit.ly/iegznz and as reference #63 at http://bit.ly/b2UsK6. The abstract and link to the complete post are on my blog “Hake’sEdStuff” at http://bit.ly/lCyN97 with a provision for comments.

Hake, R.R. 2011b. “Re: Scientific illiteracy can kill the planet,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/opOSne. Post of 20 July 2011 to AERA-L, AP-Phys, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, CTP-L, Net-Gold, Physhare, Physoc, Phys-L, & PhysLrnR. The first few lines and link to the complete post were distributed to various discussion lists.

Hansen, J.E. & M. Sato. 2011. “Paleoclimate Implications for Human-Made Climate Change,” 20 July, online at http://arxiv.org/abs/1105.0968v2; to appear in Berger, Mesinger and Sijaci, eds., Climate Change at the Eve of the Second Decade of the Century: Inferences from Paleoclimate and Regional Aspects: Proceedings of Milutin Milankovitch 130th Anniversary Symposium (Springer, in press).

Hobson, A. 2011. “Scientific illiteracy can kill the planet,” Physoc post of 19 Jul 2011 10:40:25-0500; online at http://bit.ly/ofFjHn. To access the archives of PHYSOC one needs to subscribe : - ( , but that takes only a few minutes by clicking on http://bit.ly/dVm2AM and then clicking on “Join or leave the list (or change settings).” If you’re busy, then subscribe using the “NOMAIL” option under “Miscellaneous.” Then, as a subscriber, you may access the archives and/or post messages at any time, while receiving NO MAIL from the list!

Marshall, C. & E. Lehmann. 2011. “AEP Move to Stop Carbon Capture and Sequestration Project Shocks Utilities, Miners,” New York Times, 15 July; online at http://nyti.ms/on6ssu . . . . .[[AEP = American Electric Power, an Ohio-based utility]]. . . . The report quotes Whitfield: “ ‘I'm not really in favor of government subsidies for CCS or wind power or anything else,’ said Changing the Culture of Science Education (R-Ky.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. He supports private pursuit of CCS, because it can provide jobs in the coal sector -- but not because it addresses climate change, which he says human activity is barely affecting. ‘I think human activity is contributing to it, but I think the amount we're contributing is so small,’ he said yesterday. ‘For example, that big volcano eruption in the Philippines spewed more carbon dioxide in the world -- into the atmosphere -- than all the activity prior to that in human history. So yeah, I think human activity is contributing to it, but I don't think it's something to be so alarmist about.’ ”

Recent Initiatives at CMU and MSU Seek to Improve U.S. Science/Math Education

Some blog followers might be interested in a post "Recent Initiatives at CMU and MSU Seek to Improve U.S. Science/Math Education" [Hake (2010)].

The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: Two recent initiatives that seek to improve U.S. science/math education may be of interest: (1) the Carnegie Mellon University led http://bit.ly/aiKeDi "HP Catalyst Initiative" http://bit.ly/arHUhV, and (b) the Michigan State University "Institute for Research on Mathematics and Science Education" http://irmse.msu.edu/ .

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To access the complete post please click on http://bit.ly/d8QBmz .

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana

University

Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The

Netherlands

President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References

which Recognize the Invention of the Internet

(PEDARRII)

rrhake@earthlink.net>

http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake

http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi

http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com

http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake

REFERENCES [URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 30 October 2010.]

Hake, R.R. 2010. "Recent Initiatives at CMU and MSU Seek to Improve U.S. Science/Math Education," online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/d8QBmz . Post of 30 Oct 2010 15:50:57 -0700 to AERA- L, Net-Gold, and PhysLrnR. The abstract and link to the complete post are being distributed to various discussion lists.

Mobilization for Math/Science Education - Role of Higher Education

For an earlier version of this post see Hake (2009).

According to Stephanie Lee's (2009) Inside Higher Ed report " 'Mobilization' for Math and Science Education," Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation, said:

 

"The quality of math and science learning at colleges and universities ultimately begins with solid instruction at the K-12 level. While higher education remains  strong, it is clear it cannot continue without a strong foundation."

Taking issue with Gregorian, "Steve" in his comment "Higher Education Responsibility" at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/11/study#Comments wrote: 

"From experience I know that the quality of math and science learning at colleges and universities ultimately DOES NOT begin with solid instruction at the K-12 level, it begins with the quality of math and science learning at colleges and universities. For far too long higher education has 'passed the buck' by not producing qualified teachers."

RIGHT ON, STEVE! The NSF's (1996) report "Shaping the Future" put it this way [my insert at ". . . . [insert]. . . ."]:

 

"Many faculty in SME&T. . . .[Science, Mathematics, Engineering, &  Technology]. . . at the postsecondary level continue to blame the  schools for sending underprepared students to them. But, increasingly. . . .[but not conspicuously]. . . .the higher educationcommunity has come to recognize the fact that teachers and principalsin the K-12 system are all people who have been educated at the undergraduate level, mostly in situations in which SME&T programs have not taken seriously enough their vital part of the responsibility for the quality of America's teachers."

In consonance with the above, physicist Don Langenberg (2001, p. 23), (at the time) Chancellor of the University of Maryland System, put it succinctly:

"Although we in higher education are very skillful at ignoring the obvious, it is gradually dawning on some of us that we bear a substantial part of the responsibility for this sad situation [the state of K-12 education]."

 

How sad is the state of K-12 education in the U.S.? According Schmidt, Houang, & Shakrani (2009):

 

"The consequences of our scattered approach. . . .[to K-12 education]. . . .are obvious - low standards by international comparisons, mediocre student performance (especially in eighth and twelfth grades), huge inequalities in curricular opportunities, and loss of future job possibilities. . . . Today the performance gap between the most and least proficient students in the United States is among the highest of all OECD countries [OECD (2007)]. Unless the American education system begins to prepare all of its students for post-secondary education and the changing workplace, disturbing trends in international comparisons will only worsen."

A point that I failed to make in the earlier version [Hake (2009)] of this post:

That the “performance gap between the most and least proficient students in the United States  is among the highest of all OECD countries” may well be associated with the fact that (quoting Berliner (2005), “poverty in the US is greater and of longer duration than in other rich nations.”

REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy http://tinyurl.com/create.php .]

Berliner, D.C. 2005. "Our Impoverished View of Educational Reform" Teachers College Record, August 02, online at  http://epicpolicy.org/files/EPSL-0508-116-EPRU[1].pdf  (852 kB).

BHEF. 2001. Business - Higher Education Forum (a partnership of the American Council on Education and the National Alliance of Business), Winter, "Sharing Responsibility: How Leaders in Business and Higher Education Can Improve America's Schools" online as a 248 kB pdf at  http://tinyurl.com/lhenqd .

Hake, R.R. 2009. "Mobilization for Math/Science Education - Role of  Higher Education," online on the OPEN AERA-L archives at  http://tinyurl.com/ntu4tv .  Post of 13 Jun 2009 16:49:08-0700 to AERA-L, ARN-L, ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, EDDRA, EdResMeth,  EvalTalk, Math-Teach, Net-Gold, Phys-L, PhysLrnR, Physoc, POD, & RUME.

 

Lee, S. 2009."'Mobilization' for Math and Science Education" Inside Higher Ed, 11 June; online at  http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/11/study .

 

NSF. 1996. Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology, A Report on its Review of Undergraduate Education by the Advisory Committee to the NSF, chaired by Melvin George, online at  http://tinyurl.com/m93862 .  Also online as a Google book preview at  http://tinyurl.com/n72qh7 . This report is one of the few that emphasizes the crucial role of higher education in determining the quality of K-12 education.

 

OECD. 2007. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, "PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World," online at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/28/39722597.pdf  (360 kB).

 

Schmidt, W.H., R. Houang, & S. Shakrani. 2009. "International Lessons About National Standards," online as a 180 kB pdf at http://tinyurl.com/lqtaj9 .