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Dr. Keller received her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of New Mexico in 1992.
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Posts Tagged ‘Education’
Science and play
We are headed into the final weeks of our online classes. I have really enjoyed teaching my Level I Chemistry and Level 2 Biology students. They are smart and dedicated and genuinely interested in the subject material. It has been a real treat for me since my own children are grown and almost out of the house.
Read the rest of this entryHot Seat for Biology Teachers
On January 28, 2011, the journal Science published an article called “Defeating Creationism in the Courtroom, But Not in the Classroom.” They reported results by the National Survey of High School Biology teachers which found that of 926 “nationally represented participants” 13% of high school biology teachers advocated the teaching of creationism. In the same survey, it was reported that only 28 percent followed the guidelines for teaching evolution. The rest of the article is dedicated to the “cautious 60%” who “are neither strong advocates for evolutionary biology nor explicit endorsers of nonscientific alternatives.” The authors conclude that this undecided 60% is “undermining science” and “hindering scientific literacy in the United States.” In my opinion, this is completely unfair, and places biology teachers in the hot seat. It burdens them with the responsibility of having to wade through the political mud fights currently obscuring authentic scientific discourse. It also illustrates just how little awareness the scientific community has about the nature of real scientific investigation and demonstrates an ignorance about how to give our kids a “good” science education.
Read the rest of this entryPersonal Responsibility
Personal responsibility doesn’t get much media attention these days. I mean real personal responsibility. The kind of real personal responsibility that acknowledges that we, as individuals, are 100% responsible for our own actions, thoughts, behaviors, words, deeds, perspectives, and feelings. What we get instead is either finger-pointing or censorship.
Read the rest of this entryLouisiana, Science Textbooks, and Shame
In Louisiana this week a state advisory panel voted to approve biology and environmental science textbooks that were contested by certain groups of dissenters. Of course, this is a familiar rhubarb with a predictable narrative. Textbooks are written and submitted for approval to certain textbook approving boards. Word gets out that textbooks are being approved and certain groups oppose their approval. Then groups that oppose the opposing groups pop up to oppose the opposition. This cycle starts to oscillate, back and forth, until one side or the other claims victory. But it’s only a temporary victory. Pretty soon there will be a new set of books (or standards, or legislation, or opposing groups) to oppose and the whole narrative repeats.
Read the rest of this entry“Mom, I’m Bored”
I remember when my daughter was three years old. We had just purchased a dishwasher, and she was fascinated by the large box. She wanted to climb inside, then outside, then inside again. We cut windows and a little door, and the cardboard playhouse sat in the kitchen for several months. She was never bored and seemed to find endless activities to keep herself occupied. But when she got a little older, I started to hear the familiar refrain, “Mom, I’m bored.” Somehow, she lost her fascination with the infinite possibilities that she once knew how to create with a simple box.
Read the rest of this entryDishes, Laundry, and Science… Oh my!
Homeschooling is not for the unadventurous. Once you’ve successfully won the war with the skeptical in-laws, parents, and neighbors, you are left alone to face your first morning of dishes, language arts, laundry, math, history, meals, errands, washing, ironing, grammar, grocery shopping, and of course, fascinating science experiments.
Read the rest of this entryEducation or Edutainment
I can remember my first high school chemistry class. I was a nervous 9th grader and, desperate to become an oceanographer, I signed up for Mrs. Sontag’s chemistry class. In those days our high school offered little chemistry and physics, and Mrs. Sontag’s class was an elective that lasted only nine weeks.
Read the rest of this entryConnecting the Dots with Real Science-4-Kids
School is about to start, and parents are deciding which books to use as they write up their lesson plans for the year. As a result, we get lots of questions about Real Science-4-Kids. Many people ask about the sequence RS4K books follow or about the materials needed to teach the curriculum.We also get specific questions about how RS4K deals with evolution and creation. “Is RS4K a Creationist curriculum?” many will ask. “Does RS4K teach evolution?” or “Does RS4K say ‘God created’?” people inquire.
Read the rest of this entryEveryday Science: What’s for dinner?
Nutrition is a big topic these days, and as our choices increase, it gets more and more difficult to decide what’s for dinner.When I was growing up, we didn’t have as many processed, packaged, organic, or genetically modified foods as we have today. I had my share of “junk” food. I remember going to McDonald’s on the weekends with my mother or drinking canned Coke after school and fighting with my brother over the bag of Bugles. But when it came to dinner, most of my meals were home cooked from fresh meat and vegetables. Processed food was not a huge staple in our family, and I don’t recall ever worrying about the quality of the fresh foods my parents bought.
Read the rest of this entryEvaluating science textbooks
When it comes to selecting science books, many parents find themselves in unfamiliar territory. They may have taken very little science during their formal education and may have no advanced training. In fact, science might have been one of the subjects they hated in school, making it all the more difficult to evaluate a curriculum. Having little expertise, many parents rely on “experts” to tell them what they should be teaching. There is nothing wrong with asking for advice from “experts” but it’s always a good idea to gather tools to evaluate a curriculum for yourself.
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