Jan 19, 2022 12:49 AM
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opini...hool-69614
EXCERPTS (Nicholas Friedman & Stephen Esser): The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear how strongly our lives can be influenced by rapid developments in scientific knowledge and changes in public health policy. [...] A Gallup poll from summer 2021 found that only 64 percent of US adults have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in science as an institution.
We need to improve K–12 STEM education. [...] What we need to do is to teach students about the fundamental nature of scientific practice—its strengths and limitations—and how science can both affect and be affected by society. In other words, we need to introduce students to the philosophy of science.
The concept of teaching philosophy in high school might seem strange. Philosophy often gets a bad reputation, conjuring up images of dense, impenetrable writing and of academics who care more about winning verbal disputes than discussing tangible issues.
Admittedly, academic philosophy can often be esoteric and inaccessible, and the field has historically been guilty of vastly underrepresenting female and minority perspectives. But over the past several years, a wave of enthusiasm has emerged to expand whose voice is heard and to engage the broader public in philosophical discourse.
Little attention has been given, however, to expanding access to philosophy of science education. Philosophy of science examines how the scientific process works, when and why we should accept new scientific findings, and how scientific knowledge progresses over time.
The discipline also explores the role of different stakeholders in science, how biases and values can influence the process, and how ethical considerations figure into research. These issues—not how to balance chemical equations or how to calculate the trajectory of a projectile—are what Americans are asked to grapple with every day as we are confronted with news on the pandemic.
And recent studies suggest that knowledge about the nature of science may improve trust and acceptance of its findings... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS (Nicholas Friedman & Stephen Esser): The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear how strongly our lives can be influenced by rapid developments in scientific knowledge and changes in public health policy. [...] A Gallup poll from summer 2021 found that only 64 percent of US adults have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in science as an institution.
We need to improve K–12 STEM education. [...] What we need to do is to teach students about the fundamental nature of scientific practice—its strengths and limitations—and how science can both affect and be affected by society. In other words, we need to introduce students to the philosophy of science.
The concept of teaching philosophy in high school might seem strange. Philosophy often gets a bad reputation, conjuring up images of dense, impenetrable writing and of academics who care more about winning verbal disputes than discussing tangible issues.
Admittedly, academic philosophy can often be esoteric and inaccessible, and the field has historically been guilty of vastly underrepresenting female and minority perspectives. But over the past several years, a wave of enthusiasm has emerged to expand whose voice is heard and to engage the broader public in philosophical discourse.
Little attention has been given, however, to expanding access to philosophy of science education. Philosophy of science examines how the scientific process works, when and why we should accept new scientific findings, and how scientific knowledge progresses over time.
The discipline also explores the role of different stakeholders in science, how biases and values can influence the process, and how ethical considerations figure into research. These issues—not how to balance chemical equations or how to calculate the trajectory of a projectile—are what Americans are asked to grapple with every day as we are confronted with news on the pandemic.
And recent studies suggest that knowledge about the nature of science may improve trust and acceptance of its findings... (MORE - missing details)
