Sep 11 2008
Four Beliefs that Impede Education: Part 4
Part 4 (of 5) Problematic Belief #3: Answers Matter Most (and there always is one)
“Is this going to be on the test?” The student was clearly peeved when I replied, “well . . . no.” How could I waste her time with material she didn’t need to copy onto a flash card?
As an instructor in a rapidly changing field, I routinely present supplemental information that augments, updates, and/or challenges the material students encounter in their textbook. By doing this I aim to accomplish two things: 1. To embed important ideas and theories in a richer context (making them more meaningful and hopefully memorable). 2. To honestly disclose the gray areas of science. We have much to learn, and much of our present understanding is incomplete. This is particularly true in the social sciences.
The open-ended nature of science frustrates thinkers who prefer their education to be as complicated as obtaining a snack from a vending machine. Perhaps our contemporary media bears some responsibility. Most news and information today is served in small, colorful packets, highly convenient, but lacking real substance. Additionally, the area of science that gets the most press, thus making the biggest impression, is the frontier. At the frontier things are quite exciting, but they are also the most convoluted, potentially controversial, and the least likely to endure.
When learning, we often encounter something new and exciting. But we may also learn that something old is still valid. Or that something old is no longer valid. Or even that we don’t yet fully understand the subject. Those last two possibilities seem to exasperate many individuals and undercut their confidence in science. Why learn something if it is likely to change? Can you really trust science if an answer it provided yesterday turns out to be not-quite-right today? And if there is no certain answer, why bother with the question?
Is a low-fat diet good or bad for you? Should menopausal women take hormone-replacement medications or not? If science can’t resolve these issues, what does it really know? Are scientists a bunch of ostriches working their own patches of sand? Or are they perhaps a herd of cats, each casting a different vote for what is true?
You won’t soon see the evening news present marvelous disclosures such as these: With electromagnetic waves of greater length than those of visible light, microwave ovens continue to heat foods safely and efficiently! and, The lungs still provide for the transfer of atmospheric oxygen to the bloodstream!
Beyond the countless bits of scientific discovery that remain valid today, scientific knowledge is not so much about a static truth as it is an unfolding understanding of the universe. Understanding is not a thing, not the simple holding of correct answers, but an activity continually honed and improved. Human learning, after all, has progressed for millennia and will no doubt progress for millennia more.
A truly mind-altering education is achieved through acquiring skills, not by the mere collection of information easily fit on a cheat sheet. People asking for simple answers and final truths are likely seeking the wrong thing. Science fails only when we expect of it too much too soon.
