Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Session/week 3: STSE education

These week's readings attempted to clarify and emphasize the importance of STSE (and also science) education. Please, chose ONE of the following texts and succinctly comment on its content from an STSE (and/or science) education perspective. That is, how does it contribute--or not--to our efforts to making STSE (and/or science) education a more tangible reality in our lives? How do you see the text of your choice fit into this week's topic? Please, post your comment no later than Friday at 5pm. Enjoy!


17 comments:

  1. The first article (There’s Plenty of Room for all) is arguing, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, against the Malthusian view, but from the point of view of an environmentalist. The author is explaining how the over-population problem is not an issue, and hence food supply demand appears to be self-correcting. That is, left to our own devices, human population growth is naturally adapting in the form of a smaller number of offspring. It also points out that the current emphasis on these bio-friendly fuels, renewable electricity and organic farming, appears to be a bit of a glorified exaggeration of the benefits of 'green' friendly technologies. Thus, this is a more of a political gain for politicians than actually saving planetary resources. The author argues that 5% of the grain now makes fuel and subsequently forms an illusion of cutting down carbon emissions. On the contrary, this perception encourages destruction of rain forests, releasing greenhouse gases, and so on.
    I concur with the author’s point of view that there are plenty of resources in this planet earth, and even UN’s models predict the likeness of global warming by 2050 is evitable as claimed by the author. In my opinion, the author tends to think of robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak is what is happening in the green tech, all in the name of politics. Having said this, my thought is one should continue the study and spread the awareness of STSE education and applies the STSE knowledge to situation without any prejudice. Finally, the author, a passionate environmentalist, would like to see the restore of wild habitats, such as biofuels, renewable electricity and organic farming, and our world could still handle the demand of land to fulfill the author’s desire.

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  2. This reading definitely related to this weeks topic, as it promotes STSE education, through pedagogical means which are not typically associated with science education.
    Science is often viewed as a fact-based, unemotional and objective science. This often creates negative attitudes towards STSE learning, as pointed out in the article by Wellington. Therefore, I feel as though personalizing STSE education through storytelling and the use of personal narrative will make STSE more accessible to learners. Story telling and personal narrative derive a level of authenticity in learning that can capture and inspire both learners and teachers. In creating learning that is more personal, students tend to become more involved, more engaged, and more receptive to learning. Students are also more likely to draw upon their own personal and background knowledge. Additionally STSE education, particularly environmental education, calls for critical thinking and understanding the ecological relationships between each aspect of our society and environment. Personal narratives and storytelling allows for meaningful learning and personal connections to be made. The storytelling serves as a link between the world of STSE and our own (students’) personal lives - allowing students to understand connections and relationships that may have otherwise been vague or abstract to them.
    Reflecting on my past experiences as both a learner and teacher, students (and teachers) are typically drawn in, and become more involved when personal experiences, narratives, are included in the learning. I do believe that had my STSE education been less objective, and more personal, I likely would have gained more as a learner.

    Karine

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  3. In the first article written by Att Ridley, he gives specific examples of how we the population are actually promoting STSE. The author agree's that although by 2050 we may surpass nine billion people but as we promote and educate one another we will actually be helping the environment and how we can make our land a better place. With the science, technology and the environment being taught we are able to produce food, fuels, and materials and faster rates while taking care of the environment and promoting eco-friendly substances. In the articles we read this week we see how important science is and how it is evolving as our planet grows and technology enhances. Not only will science benefit those who are being taught but those who are all around the world that produce innovative technology which benefit the environment. As Ridley states the "UN predicts though our population will probably cease growing altogether by 2070" due to the fact we as humans are taking control of what we can do in order for us to take care of our world and the way we live it.
    As a teacher it puts into perspective how we can make a difference by incorporating STSE into our teachings and establish goals that the students will appreciate and be able to use whether it be for their future career or life experiences.

    Jennifer

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  4. I would have to agree that storytelling is a useful teaching tool, as it personalizes the material for the student. What I find interesting are the ways in which it achieves this goal. Anecdotes, such as those from story #1, make it possible to explain certain scientific information in relatable, every-day-scenarios. This makes it much easier for students to understand the fundamental concepts at work. Whereas a list of temperatures and reactions may have gone in one ear and out the other, I know the next time I feel hot air from a vent, or the bite of a hot chili pepper, I will be more likely to think of my body's receptors and their functions.
    Perhaps the most interesting way for me, however, refers more to the approach of Story #2 - this idea that allowing the student to create his/her own ending to the story will serve to personalize and drive its message home. Along the lines of the Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, certain uses of fictional characters and stories for the purpose of teaching manage to stick with us. Whether it be the anti-drug cartoon shown in my Grade 7 Health class, featuring Bugs Bunny and the TMNTs, or the War Amps PSA featuring ASTAR the robot warning us to play safe, this method not only provides one with examples of the interactions between the subject matter and the individual, but more importantly, it allows us the opportunity to interpret the meaning of the narrative on a personal level. Once we have a personal understanding of the meaning of the lesson - not just the facts, but the humanness behind them - the information becomes more than information; it becomes a part of who we are.
    This is why the method of storytelling is imperative to the success of STSE education. It is impossible to teach a subject that revolves around the importance of symbiotic relationships without providing poignant examples of said relationships and how they involve us. The more aware students become personally (especially at a young age), the more personally they will take responsibility for their ecological footprint.

    Danielle

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  5. I am agree with Matt Ridley, that prediction of Malthus who thought that the dangers of population growth would preclude endless progress towards a utopian society: "The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man".Scientists proved it wrong, by producing high yield crops by utilizing principles of genetics, developing good agronomic practices and conserving water by water management practices. Technologist developed machines which helped saving time and utilizing more power to cultivate more land in short time.
    Education and science helped in birth control and saved babies from premature death by developing vaccines against diseases.
    Peoples (Society) now understand climatic change and started taking steps to control the adverse effects of humans on the natural resources, thanks to the efforts of environmental education (STSE). We have to seek other options for biofuels not the use of grain crops (corn), as we saw two years before the prices of corn went up when they started using corn to make biofuel in some states. In 2010 worldwide biofuel production reached 105 billion liters (28 billion gallons US), up 17% from 2009, and biofuels provided 2.7% of the world's fuels for road transport, a contribution largely made up of ethanol and biodiesel. While first and second-generation biofuels account for more than 99% of current global biofuel production and the U.S. already appropriates 30% of its corn supply to displace about 6% of its gasoline consumption a number of important technologies are on the brink of commercialization that produce "drop-in" fuels with the same chemical characteristics of petroleum. We should focus on "third generation" algae biofuels and "fourth generation" biofuels that are either created using petroleum-like hydroprocessing, advanced bio-chemistry, or revolutionary processes like Joule’s "solar-to-fuel" method that defies any other category of biofuels.

    Naveed

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  6. The reading; Making the Environment Personal: Storytelling as a Tool for Environmental Education, exemplifies several of the main points highlighted by both authors of this week’s reading. The scheduled readings both emphasize the need for making science education available for everyone and they also emphasized the practical application of science education in terms of planetary citizenship. The pedagogical approach of incorporating the use of storytelling into teaching STSE and science education demonstrates how the gap between theory and practice can be diminished as both Wellington and Pedretti both make the claim there has been an over emphasis on teaching (e.g. STSE, science education) for theory. The use of stories helps students to understanding why they are learning something (e.g. the practical applications of the acquired knowledge). Wellington (2001) points out that it is important for students to understand why they are learning something instead of teaching for memorization. Furthermore, I also believe that the use of stories helps to “make the science come alive.” The stories take the key concepts from the textbook and shows how science education and STSE education are applicable to (and can be used in) the real word. Pedretti (2005) also makes the claim that STSE education should be presented in a meaningful way and I believe this is also accomplished by utilizing storytelling in the STSE classroom. Thus, the goal of “science education for all” can perhaps become a reality.

    Melissa

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  7. I enjoyed reading the article: Storytelling as a tool for EE. As an educator myself, I have witnessed the difference storytelling can make in a classroom setting. This past week, I was teaching grades 8's history. They were all wired up and had little focus, however when I brought in the element of storytelling it was like night and day. Their eye's all focused on my voice and mannerisms. It was exciting to witness and watch as they seemed to absorb and enjoy what I was saying. As children, most of us are get read too or told stories, but then as we get older story telling seems to be eliminated from our lives. I can appreciate Guiliano's words from the article that "humanness in our narratives is what brings stories within one‘s grasp". Storytelling has been the baseline for teaching in many cultures including Inuit culture. They have been sharing and telling stories for years and have proven to be great hunters and navigators of the land. I think this article ties in well to the other two readings from this week and provides new approaches to teaching STSE.
    -Julia Gutsik

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  8. The first article addresses STSE education quite well. The author points out many ways that we as a growing population have adapting to our environment in the light of past and current impositions on the plant such as deforestation, hunting, greenhouse gas emissions and so forth. This article indicates many interesting statistics about the impact of human life on our planet. I find it very intriguing that the author products the worlds population to cease by 2070. This is suggested based on current approached to farming, population control and energy consumption. These current approaches have changed the way we live on our plant. Here STSE education implies interdependence on each other and resources in order to sustain life on this planet as well as the planet itself. I feel this article aligns itself with this weeks texts and the STSE way of thinking in the sense that they all promote a certain kind of education. This form education is one where all things such as science, technology, society and the environment are taking into consideration and seen as interconnected and interdependent.

    Nicole

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  9. The article by Matt Ridley, There’s Plenty of Room for All, certainly coincides with this week’s readings. Wellington emphasizes the importance of science education to society and the environment while Pedretti outlines the effective approaches for teaching science. Science education has led to many advances in technology which benefits society. As Ridley stated, “fertilizer, irrigation, pesticides, new varieties, growth regulators, genetic modification, and new enzymes have greatly increased yields”. As a result, population growth will not cause exhaustion of natural resources or severe ecological damage. STSE education resulted in awareness of the growing fertility rates thus motivating the society to take actions that will cause the decrease of these rates. Fertility rates in many countries decreased dramatically due to “enrichment, urbanization, female emancipation and education”. Ridley is hopeful about our future but warns us of the possibility of a downfall. Lack of knowledge about STSE has encouraged the production of motor fuel by using grain crop with the misconception that it cuts carbon emissions. In addition, biofuels, renewable electricity, and organic farming, have been promoted although they cause depletion of natural resources. STSE education is valuable as it will allow everyone to make informed decisions that will benefit our society. Clearly, STSE education is a powerful tool needed to ensure sustainability of our population in the future.

    Janice Evangelista

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  10. I really enjoyed reading the article There's Plenty of Room for All. It was nice to read a forecast of our social and environmental future that did not revolve around the idea that we are all doomed unless we drastically change our ways. In relation to STSE, the article did a great job of showing how our behaviors play a role in or environments, and how as society and technology advance, so does the planet. In relation to science education, this article was a good tie-in to the articles this week. It showed how science can be used in practical ways that benefit people on a day-to-day basis. Examples of this are genetic engineering to make better strains of crops, technology that reduces wasting of water, and new better sources of fuel. The article also shows how science can be used in a more academic way by comparing statistics, listing study findings, and relating accomplishments to the work that begot them.

    Anthony Campigotto

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  11. The first article clearly demonstrates the importance of STSE. Ridley throws out a few facts and numbers regarding the world population and the planet’s available resources. At first they seem a bit surprising, but when you think about it in terms of a STSE perspective, it all makes sense. For instance, the author explains how the world population quadrupled in the 20th century and how it will continue to grow, yet there is an increasing amount of available food on average per person to eat. The size of land dedicated for growing crops has not changed in years and the total forest area is actually increasing. How is this possible? Turns out people have been implementing STSE for quite a while now. It is the advances in technology; the ability to genetically alter crops, the discovery of a new enzyme that stimulates weight gain in farm animals, new fertilizers engineered to increase harvest, that has become intertwined with science to provide a better outcome for everyone on this planet. This article validates the importance of the relationship between science and technology and is why these two terms should be taught collectively in our schools today. In my opinion, this article also encompasses Wellington’s three values; intrinsic, citizenship and utilitarian, of what science education is for. It can be interesting and exciting on an individual level, one can learn new skills that can be transferable to other aspects of your life and you can learn about science to better society. We live in a society where there is no science without technology, therefore, it is essential that educators at all levels start (or continue) to educate children about this association. Perhaps the biggest lesson to take from this article, to have world-wide effects, all one must do is teach someone about STSE.

    Michael Trubiano

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  12. Matt Ridley's article entitled " There's Plenty of Room for All" demonstrates to readers the value of STSE education through its application in countering the various societal and environmental restraints that have limited our overall quality of life. Throughout the article, the author stresses that humanity is capable of avoiding the Malthusian theory of population by adopting improved alternatives within the practice of farming and by being provided with opportunities to reforest once used areas of land. Inhabitants of this planet are not affixed to a path of gloom; rather they are being directed to one of promise through the application of scientific knowledge. This reading contributes to our efforts to making STSE education a more tangible reality in our lives by illustrating our immediate need for its application in modern society. Instead of listing ways of incorporating STSE education within present-day curriculum and classrooms through various approaches as Erminia Pedretti does in her piece, Ridley does subtly outline in his examples the influential STSE principles of values and mindfulness, informed decision making, epistemological and community discourse, and personalization and empowerment. While the examples provided should be taken with a grain of salt, they do show the positive potential of STSE education application. The article effectively paints for its readers a picture which is black and white: either we adopt and employ STSE education within society to guarantee the planet's survival and our quality of life, or we ignore it and succumb to the Malthusian crisis which looms over society like a threatening silhouette.

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  13. Att Ridley’s article entitled “There’s Plenty of Room for All” examines the victories of science including cost efficiency, saved natural ecosystems from being converted into agricultural land, a higher standard of living, as well as more global stability and security. Due to the industrial revolution resources have increased and humans have been able to continue on this exponential growth because the technologies we have put in place have continued to raise our holding capacities. While Ridley’s worldview identifies the importance science and technology has held in our society in deterring disease and famines, as well as fostering late marriage and celibacy, it also fails to recognize the environmental impacts modern agriculture has produced. This particularly ties into next week’s topic of science in recognizing that there are numerous frameworks of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it. Our worldview informs what we value in the environment, the ways in which we interact with the environment, and our environmental decision making (right and wrong). Although Ridley’s scientific perspective considers the benefits of science, he does not consider many of the environmental impacts such as the causalities of bioaccumulation of pesticides, the loss of biodiversity, bigger reliance on genetically modified foods, build up of waste products, and many more. Though the human population growth rate is declining, the population of the planet will continue to increase through the year 2050. Greater resources are required to support the growing population and to determine humanity’s overall environmental impact, population, affluence and technological inputs must be considered. Our environmental impact ultimately determines the Earth’s human carrying capacity.

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  14. Matt Ridley’s article entitled “There’s Plenty of Room for All” examines the victories of science including cost efficiency, saved natural ecosystems from being converted into agricultural land, a higher standard of living, as well as more global stability and security. Due to the industrial revolution resources have increased and humans have been able to continue on this exponential growth because the technologies we have put in place have continued to raise our holding capacities. While Ridley’s worldview identifies the importance science and technology has held in our society in deterring disease and famines, as well as fostering late marriage and celibacy, it also fails to recognize the environmental impacts modern agriculture has produced. This particularly ties into next week’s topic of science in recognizing that there are numerous frameworks of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it. Our worldview informs what we value in the environment, the ways in which we interact with the environment, and our environmental decision making (right and wrong). Although Ridley’s scientific perspective considers the benefits of science, he does not consider many of the environmental impacts such as the causalities of bioaccumulation of pesticides, the loss of biodiversity, bigger reliance on genetically modified foods, build up of waste products, and many more. Though the human population growth rate is declining, the population of the planet will continue to increase through the year 2050. Greater resources are required to support the growing population and to determine humanity’s overall environmental impact, population, affluence and technological inputs must be considered. Our environmental impact ultimately determines the Earth’s human carrying capacity.

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  15. Storytelling is an excellent tool to use in any lesson - any subject. I think using it to promote STSE education makes learning more meaningful and worthwhile for students. Unlike a traditional science classroom, where the focus may solely be on factual evidence, memorization, terms etc., incorporating storytelling brings science to a more relatable level. I feel like by incorporating storytelling you're making science more accessible, "science for all".

    - Chelsea

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  16. Matt (Att?) Ridley's editorial on Earth's sustainability is an example of a synthesis of the multiple relationships in the STSE model. If we were to examine scientific studies on their own, without examining the different effects on the other components (for instance, climate change vs how society benefits from it) we would get a narrower and incomplete picture of how the earth is doing. Also, another point to consider in the interrelationships of STSE is Ridley's fears of politics limiting the capability of science and technology to benefit the world on its population sustainability and growth.

    In science education, often the lessons about issues are taught in a disjointed manner. However, educators should be showing the STSE interrelationships. Students can then be exposed to scientific issues and made to appreciate that they are not simply black and white social issues (such as climate change and world food productivity).

    This ties to the readings about science education, by emphasizing that we as educators and learners need to think critically about the reasons why we should be considering STSE education. The issue about biofuels points out that even with science and technology creating alternatives to fossil fuels, we should be critiquing the use use of inefficient biofuels, especially with political interests involved.

    -Eugenie

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  17. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS. THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED.

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