Science Education & Policy

Free Online Lectures from the Best US Universities- Academic Earth

There are times when online discussions get heated, times when people seem to have differing ideas of what certain concept actually mean. Sometimes Wikipedia helps in gaining at least the first foothold on a new subject, but sometimes you really want to fi ...

Blog Post - Richard Mankiewicz - Mar 7 2010 - 12:56am

Students Who Know Earth's Age Accept Evolution, Survey Says

High school and college students who understand that the earth is 4.5 billion years old are much more likely to understand and accept human evolution, according to a survey published this month in Evolution. The finding could give educators a new strategy ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 11 2010 - 12:19pm

What Is Science?

What Is Science? Some time ago I was visiting a college in Pakistan.  I thought I was just there as an observer.  My mistake.  I was introduced to a physics class with final words that filled my soul with dread: "... from England who is going to give ...

Article - Patrick Lockerby - Mar 13 2010 - 3:49pm

Darwin invented the phone, Newton discovered fire

It's that time again for a look at how dumb the public is about science. One in ten children thought the telephone was invented by the Queen, with Darwin coming in second place. One in twenty thought the first man on the moon was Luke Skywalker, or po ...

Blog Post - Richard Mankiewicz - Mar 14 2010 - 4:03am

A Brief Guide to Ignoring Bad Science Teachers

Much has been written about how inspirational teachers can turn students on to a subject they perhaps would otherwise have let drift away. But what do you do if you're really into a subject but have a poor teacher who is doing their best to turn you o ...

Blog Post - Richard Mankiewicz - Mar 18 2010 - 1:30am

Mind Hacks Over Stacks Of Facts

Textbooks are not mere non-fiction books. Whereas you can feel free to doubt what ispresented in a typical non-fiction book (mine excluded), textbooks are a record of the true facts and principles in a field. Textbooks, you see, should not be questioned.  ...

Article - Mark Changizi - Mar 18 2010 - 6:05pm

Show Off Your Own Creative Engineering: Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

The public's fascination with the intricate machinery in the video for "This Too Shall Pass" by OK Go may help promote the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. This is an annual competition for students to show off their creative engineering skill ...

Blog Post - Richard Mankiewicz - Mar 20 2010 - 4:22am

On Peer Review

In Adventures in Ethics and Science, Janet Stemwedel asks some questions about peer review — its purpose and its effect — prompted by strong online criticism of a peer-reviewed paper that was published with at least some significant review comments ignore ...

Article - Barry Leiba - Mar 26 2010 - 8:52pm

Bloggy Crashes COPUS

Bloggy recently crashed a meeting of The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS).  What is that, you ask?  Okay, I never heard of it either but their website says they are a "growing grassroots network of universities, scientific soci ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Mar 25 2010 - 9:08pm

Lego Turing Machine

Lego Turing Machine I just came across a wonderful teaching aid: Our success in implementing the Turing Machine as a physical device is exciting because the Turing Machine theoretical construct is such an iconic part of computer science. The Robotic Turin ...

Blog Post - Patrick Lockerby - Mar 29 2010 - 9:56pm