How and Why Science Works
“How Science Works” is now a major part of the national curriculum in England and Wales. Its introduction was controversial and its implementation has, as I wrote recently, gone awry. Despite my concerns about the problems of teaching and assessing HSW as suggested by certain GCSE course, I believe it is a crucial part of the science curriculum and deserves to be taught well. I think this film might help you do just that:
Science is really a complex subject, and also at times, a field with a lot of ego at stake. That is clear. There have even been bouts of “outsiderness” in the scientific community (molecular biology vs. ecology, or mathematics vs. physics), and and also the dogma rising above scientific acumen are too numerous (even once is too much as within the “Clovis first” mandate). Skepticism has long served science well, it also may be time to get a new paradigm — a subtle, yet robust shift in mindset and thinking. Could “selfless restraint” fill that duty? It has all the appropriate elements without the excess baggage that all too often goes with skepticism. One look at the “skeptics” forums and internet sites, and you can see the amount of illogics that from time to time find their way into scientific thinking.