Comments on: Obama: “Show young people how cool science can be.”

By: kiramatali shah

kiramatali shah — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:33:05 +0000

1. There’s a movement to radically change California government, by getting rid of career politicians and chopping their salaries in half. A group known as Citizens for California Reform wants to make the California legislature a part time time job, just like it was until 1966.

http://www.onlineuniversalwork.com

By: Ole Guy

Ole Guy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:12:51 +0000

Bob, the tv show Mythbusters is not unlike the Mr. Wizzard series of the 50s. Designed to instill and inspire more than a passive viewing audience, these two shows, both excellent in their own rights, captured the imaginations of many. While the Wizzard series was oriented toward a somewhat younger audience than the more-mature appeal of Mythbusters, they both have achieved one common goal…a departure from passive viewing, and a more thought-provoking telecast for young and not-so-young alike.

By: Ole Guy

Ole Guy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:14:06 +0000

Good points, Flip. Just because a kid, however, wants to prepare for, or demonstrates an affinity toward a non-college/trades-oriented program should be no reason why he/she cannot/should not take the upper-level math and science courses of study. Even if the kid grows to be an adult who retires from the trades, the background of higher-level hs studies, while always applicable in the broader spectrum of vocations, will, nonetheless, enable him/her to be a better citizen. And in the end, is that not what it’s all about?

By: Teacher

Teacher — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:51:03 +0000

jgo, if it’s so easy and straightforward, why aren’t you in the classroom with us, imparting your wisdom.
I’ve lost count of the number of PARENTS who tell me they couldn’t spend all day with their own child, much less a group of their kid’s peers and teach them. So, unless you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and shovel against the rising tide of mediocrity that passes for parentin these days, please save it.

By: Teacherforlife

Teacherforlife — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:50:30 +0000

jgo – Title 1 = high poverty. I’ve taught in many Title 1 schools, and most administrators in those schools are highly concerned with only reading and math. Science and social studies are regarded as “extras” and are quietly discouraged from being taught. AYP is annual yearly progress as defined in No Child Left Behind – that report on how each school is doing in reading and math education. Making AYP goals determines whether or not a school is placed on the “needs improvement” list. I’m not talking about teaching techniques – those can be learned (although I might debate you about how quickly); it’s when I have fellow teachers who do not know how to do basic 5th grade skills (adding unlike fractions; percents; dividing decimals) that I worry.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:25:55 +0000

If kids want to see the scientific process in action and have it fun at the same time have them watch “Mythbusters”.

For those who don’t watch it, the premise is that the viewer send them a myth to be proven true or false (in scientific terms, a hypothesis to experiment on). Then they go about proving or disproving the myth with often explosive results (that’s the fun part).

The whole idea is that, in science, you have a guess and then you test it. Of course, in real science you have other groups proving or disproving the same guess and if multiple groups get the same result, then it is accepted as “true”.

By: jgo

jgo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:07:47 +0000

Teacherforlife, please define your terms. What significance are we supposed to read from your school somehow being covered or classified by “Title 1″ of some statute? What’s an AYP? If someone knows 5th grade math, can communicate in colloquial American English, and they’re not prone to initiation of force or fraud, then they’re qualified to teach 5th grade math. I’d guesstimate that 75% of college sophomores are quite capable of teaching 5th grade math well, and at least 50% of those I’ve worked with at the university who have PhDs in math education are not. The “certificates”, or “certifications” as some of the worst (mostly government) hyper-credentialists refer to them, are unimportant. Didactic techniques can be quickly learned on the job or in a brief seminar.

By: jgo

jgo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:48:32 +0000

“U.S. engineers… [are] more creative, excelled in problem solving, risk taking, networking and [have] strong analytical skills…”
http://www.kermitrose.com/econ200707.html#20070702

“Dozens of employers asked to compare American engineers to their much-vaunted colleagues from India and [Red China] agreed that ‘in education, training, quality of work, you name it, in every which way, Americans are better’. Even the best schools in those countries ‘don’t hold a candle to our best schools.’, he continues. Newly hired American university graduates ‘become productive within 30 days or so. If you hire a graduate of an Indian university, it takes between 3 and 6 months for them to become productive.’”
http://www.kermitrose.com/econ200801.html#20080104

“Dynamic” US engineers vs. “transactional” foreign engineers.
http://www.kermitrose.com/econ200512.html#20051213
http://www.kermitrose.com/econ200512.html#20051227
http://www.kermitrose.com/econ200601.html#20060110

Hundreds of H-1B visa applications are approved annually for people lacking the equivalent of a US high school diploma, and thousands who lacked the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree.

Gifted individuals account for only 5% of H-1B visa holders at most, so cutting the numbers of H-1B visas from the current 110K to 2,000 or fewer per year and auctioning them off monthly to the highest bidders on the basis of compensation would improve the likelihood that the best and brightest would be welcomed. Cutting them to 1,000 per year would begin to bring back the huge pool of unemployed and under-employed US citizen science and tech workers toward full employment, and thus boost the economy. If all else fails, we should set the bar by conducting multiple IQ tests and admit those whose average scores exceed 160 (or aggregate ACT score above 34 or aggregate SAT score above 1560 or “new” aggregate SAT score above 2100 or aggregate GRE above 1615). (Einstein’s IQ was estimated to be over 200, the practical limit of the tests that exist.)
http://www.kermitrose.com/econ200705.html#20070513
http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/Archive/NotBestAndBrightest3.txt

It’s impossible to make a case that executives should continue turning their backs on some of the best science, tech, engineering and math talent in the world and instead hire lower-quality, low-skill, cheaper, more easily brow-beaten labor from over-seas.

By: jgo

jgo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:41:19 +0000

Science, tech, and engineering have always been cool. What’s not cool is being unemployed and under-employed and impoverished because of the worsening glut of STEM talent in the USA and the vastly excessive STEM guest-work visas.

By: ScienceTeacher671

ScienceTeacher671 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:35:32 +0000

Maureen? The blog monster is busy tonight…