Eureka!
I should slap myself for not thinking about this on my own.
Last week, President Bush unveiled a new initiative for math and science education in the United States during his State of the Union Address which he dubbed the "American Competitiveness Initiative." In it, he talked about doubling the nation's basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next decade, presenting successful science students as the future of the country. He spoke boldly about being competitive once again with the world's science superpowers, like China, India, and others. Part of the initiative calls for training thousands of new science and math teachers. Apparently, the United States ranks 25th in the world with only 5.7% of 24-year olds with science degrees.
Stephen Colbert (no, Comedy Central isn't my ONLY source of real news) pointed out last night that students have all the sciences open to them and should enthusiastically learn the fundamentals:
Biology (but not evolution);
Genetics (but not stem cells);
Climatology (but not global warming);
Geology (but nothing that occured over 5,000 years ago); and,
Atronomy (ditto!)
And you wonder why we're lagging behind so many other countries when it comes to science.
Last week, President Bush unveiled a new initiative for math and science education in the United States during his State of the Union Address which he dubbed the "American Competitiveness Initiative." In it, he talked about doubling the nation's basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next decade, presenting successful science students as the future of the country. He spoke boldly about being competitive once again with the world's science superpowers, like China, India, and others. Part of the initiative calls for training thousands of new science and math teachers. Apparently, the United States ranks 25th in the world with only 5.7% of 24-year olds with science degrees.
Stephen Colbert (no, Comedy Central isn't my ONLY source of real news) pointed out last night that students have all the sciences open to them and should enthusiastically learn the fundamentals:
Biology (but not evolution);
Genetics (but not stem cells);
Climatology (but not global warming);
Geology (but nothing that occured over 5,000 years ago); and,
Atronomy (ditto!)
And you wonder why we're lagging behind so many other countries when it comes to science.
posted by elanit | 11:37 PM
1 Comments:
The idea that we're "behind" in science degrees is substantively overstated. For instance, China considers auto mechanics "engineers."
I have yet to encounter a situation where the talent an American company needs can't be found in the US - it's just cheaper to get it elsewhere.
That isn't to say that math and science education couldn't be substantially better: of course it could. Ask yourself this: of the people with college degrees you know, how many of them took Calculus or a serious Physics class? Neither are required for most BA students (neither is US history, which is appalling for different reasons).
If our colleges can't get it right, why would we expect our high schools to get it right? In truth, our schools are glorified pens where children are protected from (serious) harm, and occasionally some of them learn something.
(ok, I'll go through the list...
Evolution != the origin of life
I'm not awere of any group discouraging discussion of stem cells - federal money can't be used for NEW EMBRYONIC stem cell lines, but that's the only restriction.
Where do you get the idea that there is a push to deny the Earth and Universe's antiquity?
Global warming I'll leave aside because there are lots of politics wrapped up in it - the things which are actually well understood are few, and the rhetoric is mighty...)
-D
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