As I was continuing to (inefficiently) get ready this past week for the start of classes on Monday, I was adding some historical perspective to the developmental biology course I am teaching. The textbook mentions scientist names and the general time in which they made discoveries or proposed ideas about how biological systems work. I started looking up more specific information about these scientists though, and started thinking about how crazy it is that so many discoveries we/I take for granted were made relatively recently. At least it seemed that way to me when I started thinking about how the lives of my great-grandparents (who I knew), my grandparents, and my parents (sorry) overlapped with so many incredible advances. Of course I also thought about how in 30 years students will take for granted exciting discoveries that have been made in the past 10 years, and wonder how there was a time we did not know these things.
[As an aside, I think this is one of the struggles with teaching science. We know SO. MUCH. MORE. now than we did when I was in school in the 80s and 90s. We expect the students to learn these new things, but then we still need to teach them the basics and how to think. There actually are not enough hours in the day. A lot of our teaching, at least where I am, does emphasize the critical thinking and communication/writing skills, but in reality the students are not retaining even a lot of the basics as a result. And they need to at least know the basics and where to look up the more detailed information.]
My great-grandmother was born in 1898, and I think my great-grandfather was born earlier that decade. My grandparents were born in the mid-1920s. So, here are some cool things to think about.
The man, August Weismann, who proposed that we inherit characteristics from germ cells (eggs and sperm) died when my great grandmother was 16 years old.
The images of DNA taken by Rosalind Franklin, that were then used by her and Watson and Crick to determine the structure of DNA, were taken in the early 1950s when my great grand-parents were in their 60s, my grand-parents in their late 20s, and my parents were born?! As an aside, Franklin also studied the polio virus.
The 4 postulates for determining if an illness is due to a disease or a microorganism (like bacteria) were developed around 1890, and have since been revised in light of more modern techniques of studying disease. Koch and Loeffler, who developed these ideas, lived until 1910 and 1915, respectively, when my great-grandmother was a teenager.
I would look up a few more, but you get the idea. Everyone hears about the big exciting things like landing on the moon, but these ideas are just as ground breaking, even if they seem less flashy in this day and age.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
25 January 2014
20 January 2013
Now is the time
I distinctly remember driving back to Boston from my parents' house one year at the end of MLK weekend. I happened to catch a radio station playing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream Speech. I admit I got the chills. If you have never listened, I recommend taking 15 minutes of your time to do so.
I am always reminded of my elementary school's principal and often share this story. I do not know what grade I was in, nor do I remember what led to me and another kid in my class getting called to the principal's office. But I remember the old black tape player and the principal playing a recording of MLK's famous speech to us because our principal had been there. I wonder how many other kids he played the recording for? You learn about these pivotal moments in history, but often feel removed. Our principal was this towering white man, and listening to MLK's speech just now, I realize he was one of the white* people in the sea of black* people who was there to support the cause and to whom MLK spoke at one part of the speech. He was my principal in a dinky little New England town, and I will never forget that experience.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said many wise things, in my opinion, and if you listen to him orate, it is no wonder he moved people. I have read many snippets of his wisdom, from science to social issues. MLK said:
*Recently I have become even more aware and curious and hyper-conscious about words I and we use to describe people. Quite honestly, I think if you are not a part of a defined social group, it is impossible to know what that social group feels is a respectful way to describe the group. Is it more appropriate to refer to the attendants at MLK's speech as 'white' and 'black' or as 'European-American' and 'African-American'? I am of European descent, but would call myself 'white', and usually use the parallel term 'black' for people of African descent. I should really ask someone of African descent what is the preferable way to explain someone is of African descent If you identify in a particular way, and someone labels you in a way that makes you uncomfortable or may be inappropriate, I encourage you to first assume that they are merely uneducated about the issue. This recently happened to me in a group where we were interchangeably using two labels for a particular social group. A member of the conversation told us why we should only use one of those descriptors, and let me tell you, we were all very grateful to her for speaking up and explaining the difference to us.
I am always reminded of my elementary school's principal and often share this story. I do not know what grade I was in, nor do I remember what led to me and another kid in my class getting called to the principal's office. But I remember the old black tape player and the principal playing a recording of MLK's famous speech to us because our principal had been there. I wonder how many other kids he played the recording for? You learn about these pivotal moments in history, but often feel removed. Our principal was this towering white man, and listening to MLK's speech just now, I realize he was one of the white* people in the sea of black* people who was there to support the cause and to whom MLK spoke at one part of the speech. He was my principal in a dinky little New England town, and I will never forget that experience.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said many wise things, in my opinion, and if you listen to him orate, it is no wonder he moved people. I have read many snippets of his wisdom, from science to social issues. MLK said:
We have inherited a large house, a great "world house" in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Moslem and Hindu - a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live together with each other in peace.We re-inaugurate our first bi-racial president tomorrow. He is African-American, but he is also European-American. I think it is wonderful that he is our first African-American president, but also that he represents the acceptance of interracial relationships. Although not by design, I love that his inauguration is the same time of year that we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I need to go figure out if I can watch it live on my computer or if I am taking the day off to watch it at home. That's right - I will take the morning off to watch the presidential inauguration, and I think that is okay. As a matter of fact, I think public schools should watch them and wish I had growing up.
*Recently I have become even more aware and curious and hyper-conscious about words I and we use to describe people. Quite honestly, I think if you are not a part of a defined social group, it is impossible to know what that social group feels is a respectful way to describe the group. Is it more appropriate to refer to the attendants at MLK's speech as 'white' and 'black' or as 'European-American' and 'African-American'? I am of European descent, but would call myself 'white', and usually use the parallel term 'black' for people of African descent. I should really ask someone of African descent what is the preferable way to explain someone is of African descent If you identify in a particular way, and someone labels you in a way that makes you uncomfortable or may be inappropriate, I encourage you to first assume that they are merely uneducated about the issue. This recently happened to me in a group where we were interchangeably using two labels for a particular social group. A member of the conversation told us why we should only use one of those descriptors, and let me tell you, we were all very grateful to her for speaking up and explaining the difference to us.
16 October 2012
Evolving
At one of the Confirmation Classes I was sitting in on, the topic of evolution came up. All of the 13-14 year olds in the class go to public schools. The initial overwhelming insight the students shared is that they just have not been able to believe that we evolved from monkeys. So they do not really think that evolution is the explanation for animals (humans/apes) that exist today. Their perspective on creationism was less assured, but the thing that disturbed me was how dismissive they were of the scientifically supported theory of evolution.
It was disturbing to me because to my knowledge the state in which I live has not had the evolution versus creationism in the public schools thing. It was disturbing because they did not understand the theory of evolution at all.
While they talked, I was waiting until I heard them all and what they thought. The pastor let them finish and explained that the theory is actually that humans and apes, for example, have evolved the same amount of time from some common ancestor that, in a sense, resembled both humans and apes. That ancestor was not an ape or a human.
It took a two minute explanation by the pastor, and him sharing his belief in evolution and the moment at which he got it on a field trip growing up, for them all to be like, "OOOooooohhhhh...that makes more sense. I feel better that we didn't evolve from apes."
Also, Bill Nye is awesome. It is great to have visible people refuting crazy talk.
It was disturbing to me because to my knowledge the state in which I live has not had the evolution versus creationism in the public schools thing. It was disturbing because they did not understand the theory of evolution at all.
While they talked, I was waiting until I heard them all and what they thought. The pastor let them finish and explained that the theory is actually that humans and apes, for example, have evolved the same amount of time from some common ancestor that, in a sense, resembled both humans and apes. That ancestor was not an ape or a human.
It took a two minute explanation by the pastor, and him sharing his belief in evolution and the moment at which he got it on a field trip growing up, for them all to be like, "OOOooooohhhhh...that makes more sense. I feel better that we didn't evolve from apes."
Also, Bill Nye is awesome. It is great to have visible people refuting crazy talk.
24 March 2010
The Flats
Any of you out there ever had a visit from Flat Stanley? The book was published in 1964, but not until 1995 did a school teacher from Ontario use this book for education purposes. The short explanation is that Stanley is a flat boy who can be put in an envelop and mailed. School kids mail Flat Stanley to someone they know; that someone takes Stanley around and mails him back; the kid talks to his or her class about Stanley's adventures. One of my friends got to take Flat Stanley around New York City. I mean that is pretty exciting!
My nephew sent me Flat Stanley. My nephew's little imagination also created Flat Isabella. On the envelop they came in, it said "her name is flat isabella can you pleas Take care of her Bcuse She is preshis." Adorable. Mostly I just took the Flats to visit where I work and where CF works. I could not think of anything particularly "Midwest" to do. I suppose I could have lied and said Stanley came to a country music concert or the country bar with me, but those are less appropriate for the second grad classroom. ;-) What is more Midwest than these photos?
At night, the Flats would chill on the couch with the cat.
The end.
My nephew sent me Flat Stanley. My nephew's little imagination also created Flat Isabella. On the envelop they came in, it said "her name is flat isabella can you pleas Take care of her Bcuse She is preshis." Adorable. Mostly I just took the Flats to visit where I work and where CF works. I could not think of anything particularly "Midwest" to do. I suppose I could have lied and said Stanley came to a country music concert or the country bar with me, but those are less appropriate for the second grad classroom. ;-) What is more Midwest than these photos?
At night, the Flats would chill on the couch with the cat.
The end.
01 March 2010
Multitasking and education
In the past month or so I have seen an article on multitasking and heard a discussion on the radio one morning. The discussions I have seen are usually framed in the context of education and young populations. My take-away message is that multitasking, and the extent to which students in particular think technology is acceptable in their learning environment, changes the memory where information is stored. People tend to overwork their short-term RAM, basically, and store less in long-term memory. In other words, all this electronic stuff causes people to store things in short-term memory.
I notice this when I am doing things on a daily basis. I avoid my cell phone when I am driving unless I am on the highway and the roads and traffic are not bad, because I have had plenty of those moments getting off the phone and not quite remembering which exits on the highway I have passed. When I am on the phone and clicking around playing a game, my attention to the conversation is definitely diminished; I can totally tell when my Mom is doing something else while talking to me as well. I would support laws that limit the use of cell phones while in the driver's seat (to a certain extent, and I still don't know how you enforce a secondary traffic violation well), and am always impressed when I see someone pull over to use their phone. As an aside, I do not think that emergency vehicle drivers should be allowed to use their cell phone while driving if your average citizen is not. What is the difference with regards to the safety of the situation? I also have a problem with police cars that do not come to complete stops at stop signs or that weave in and out of traffic when not in pursuit or who use their lights just to get you to get out of the way (this happened to me).
Anyway, back to multitasking. I think issues of multitasking (in the sense of doing what you are supposed to be doing while also, say, emailing a friend or chatting online) are likely common to the classroom and the workplace. One of the things I intend to do when I am a professor is to have a strict no-cell phone use rule. I guess the real way to enforce this is to learn all the students names and faces and dock points. When I was teaching in China I actually took away a student's cell phone (college freshman) for failure to follow the rules. The classrooms there are much more "old school" though, and here you would probably have parents calling the professor and/or dean and/or president of the University (seriously, this happens!!) if you took away a student's phone. I have also though about how to feel about laptops in the college classroom. I can type fast and can see how some students have bad handwriting or could get more down if they are typing. BUT, what about all the other things they could do during class on a laptop? Some may argue that it is their own problem if they waste classroom time. But that is a waste of the instructors time, and this is what I would resent.
Has your classroom or workplace set rules about personal time (aside from blogging networking or gaming sites)? How can you enforce rules like this? Do you try to limit your use of non-work related technology/resources while at work or school?
I notice this when I am doing things on a daily basis. I avoid my cell phone when I am driving unless I am on the highway and the roads and traffic are not bad, because I have had plenty of those moments getting off the phone and not quite remembering which exits on the highway I have passed. When I am on the phone and clicking around playing a game, my attention to the conversation is definitely diminished; I can totally tell when my Mom is doing something else while talking to me as well. I would support laws that limit the use of cell phones while in the driver's seat (to a certain extent, and I still don't know how you enforce a secondary traffic violation well), and am always impressed when I see someone pull over to use their phone. As an aside, I do not think that emergency vehicle drivers should be allowed to use their cell phone while driving if your average citizen is not. What is the difference with regards to the safety of the situation? I also have a problem with police cars that do not come to complete stops at stop signs or that weave in and out of traffic when not in pursuit or who use their lights just to get you to get out of the way (this happened to me).
Anyway, back to multitasking. I think issues of multitasking (in the sense of doing what you are supposed to be doing while also, say, emailing a friend or chatting online) are likely common to the classroom and the workplace. One of the things I intend to do when I am a professor is to have a strict no-cell phone use rule. I guess the real way to enforce this is to learn all the students names and faces and dock points. When I was teaching in China I actually took away a student's cell phone (college freshman) for failure to follow the rules. The classrooms there are much more "old school" though, and here you would probably have parents calling the professor and/or dean and/or president of the University (seriously, this happens!!) if you took away a student's phone. I have also though about how to feel about laptops in the college classroom. I can type fast and can see how some students have bad handwriting or could get more down if they are typing. BUT, what about all the other things they could do during class on a laptop? Some may argue that it is their own problem if they waste classroom time. But that is a waste of the instructors time, and this is what I would resent.
Has your classroom or workplace set rules about personal time (aside from blogging networking or gaming sites)? How can you enforce rules like this? Do you try to limit your use of non-work related technology/resources while at work or school?
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