Author: Hugh G., Hugh G Gauch, Jr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN: 1107019621

The fundamental principles of the scientific method are essential for enhancing perspective, increasing productivity, and stimulating innovation. These principles include deductive and inductive logic, probability, parsimony and hypothesis testing, as well as science's presuppositions, limitations, ethics and bold claims of rationality and truth. The examples and case studies drawn upon in this book span the physical, biological and social sciences; include applications in agriculture, engineering and medicine; and also explore science's interrelationships with disciplines in the humanities such as philosophy and law. Informed by position papers on science from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences and National Science Foundation, this book aligns with a distinctively mainstream vision of science. It is an ideal resource for anyone undertaking a systematic study of scientific method for the first time, from undergraduates to professionals in both the sciences and the humanities.

Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology

Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 128
Release: 1999-04-25
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309062942

Today's undergraduate studentsâ€"future leaders, policymakers, teachers, and citizens, as well as scientists and engineersâ€"will need to make important decisions based on their understanding of scientific and technological concepts. However, many undergraduates in the United States do not study science, mathematics, engineering, or technology (SME&T) for more than one year, if at all. Additionally, many of the SME&T courses that students take are focused on one discipline and often do not give students an understanding about how disciplines are interconnected or relevant to students' lives and society. To address these issues, the National Research Council convened a series of symposia and forums of representatives from SME&T educational and industrial communities. Those discussions contributed to this book, which provides six vision statements and recommendations for how to improve SME&T education for all undergraduates. The book addresses pre-college preparation for students in SME&T and the joint roles and responsibilities of faculty and administrators in arts and sciences and in schools of education to better educate teachers of K-12 mathematics, science, and technology. It suggests how colleges can improve and evaluate lower-division undergraduate courses for all students, strengthen institutional infrastructures to encourage quality teaching, and better prepare graduate students who will become future SME&T faculty.

Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2003-01-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309072778

Economic, academic, and social forces are causing undergraduate schools to start a fresh examination of teaching effectiveness. Administrators face the complex task of developing equitable, predictable ways to evaluate, encourage, and reward good teaching in science, math, engineering, and technology. Evaluating, and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics offers a vision for systematic evaluation of teaching practices and academic programs, with recommendations to the various stakeholders in higher education about how to achieve change. What is good undergraduate teaching? This book discusses how to evaluate undergraduate teaching of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology and what characterizes effective teaching in these fields. Why has it been difficult for colleges and universities to address the question of teaching effectiveness? The committee explores the implications of differences between the research and teaching cultures-and how practices in rewarding researchers could be transferred to the teaching enterprise. How should administrators approach the evaluation of individual faculty members? And how should evaluation results be used? The committee discusses methodologies, offers practical guidelines, and points out pitfalls. Evaluating, and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics provides a blueprint for institutions ready to build effective evaluation programs for teaching in science fields.

Meeting the Challenge

Meeting the Challenge
Author: Ellen Rose
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 378
Release: 1999-03-16
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1136770631

This collection demonstrates how feminist pedagogy can be implemented in a variety of institutional and disciplinary settings. Unlike most of the current literature, it provides a vast array of examples of feminist pedagogy in action. It suggests practical ways of creating classroom environments open to feminist and anti-racist teaching, way feminists at universities can intervene in community programs and how to apply feminist pedagogy to new challenges such as distance education, cyberspace, fiscal constraints, and the changing political climate. Meeting the Challenge also looks to other nations for examples of how to successfully implement feminist pedagogy.