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Don Runkle's avatar

John...I forwarded your "Science Class" idea to the Dean of Michigan's School of Education who I know quite well and have discussed our joint interests over the last several years. As you know, I think US News has Michigan ranked #1 as the best teaching university program, for whatever that's worth. Their Dean is actually the sparkplug at a Detroit K-12 school that is doing some innovative things. I told the Dean that she should plug your "Science Class" into their 9th grade curriculum as a bold move. We'll see what happens:)...Don

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Jim Schout's avatar

In my experiences with science education from 60 years ago the problem is the teachers. For instance, my science teacher in the 8th grade knew far too little about the subject matter. She tried very hard to educate us, but her actual insight into the details was lacking. I actually knew that at the time because I was already interested in the subject and understood it better than she did.

Back then the people in charge recognized this problem and came up with a great solution. Instead of being taught in the classroom by an unprepared person, the entire class went to the cafeteria and watched a highly skilled teacher on a television. The program was put out daily on UNC-TV out of Greensboro or Raleigh. So, every student received the best of the best and I would argue our own teachers learned a lot that they did not know before.

The problem as I see it is most teachers today are a lot like those from 1956. They are not super interested in science and are attracted to the liberal arts. They are better at history, writing, and debating than at mechanics, physics, biology or mathematics. STEM programs for teachers in colleges today will help over time, but how fast can we get enough qualified teachers into the system?

I am told that the televised system I experienced was short lived because the teachers thought it was taking away their jobs. That was not correct, but apparently it worked and that system went away quickly even though as a student I thought it was excellent.

If I was I’ll, I still watched the show because it was right there on PBS. Actually, anyone could tune in an become better educated on technical subjects.

Anyway, that is my view of a way to turn the corner much faster.

Jim Schout

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