My father was a brilliant scientist and taught me very early that the experiments that fail are very important and must be written up honestly. So in eighth grade I wrote up my failure to grow crystals, and some theories on why I failed. The teacher gave me a low grade and explained that this was unacceptable, but she also moved me over to the topmost science class section. Maybe - apparently - she also thought the whole thing was a bit of a charade.
You are certainly right that science fairs have lost their way and would profit from a best Blind Alley prize. And a "no grownup touched this project" prize.
Maybe the adult scientists could use such a prize too, given the rate at which they are faking results and having to retract them from prestigious journals because they are not committed to truth over their jobs, which depend on "not being wrong." Well, being wrong is extremely important, and reporting it honestly so that every one else does not go down your same blind alley is a great contribution to science. Best Blind Alley could be great.
When I was in middle school, the *point* of the science fair was to learn the scientific method. I remember seeing an experiment that asked whether hold or cold water would freeze into ice first. You can look at this and think "what a dumb experiment, the answer is obvious" or you can look at this and say "what a great way to learn the method." The point wasn't actually to figure out whether hot or cold water froze first; the point was to walk through the method, to have the experience of doing it.
For learning to think scientifically, I attribute to geometry in high school when we did proofs. That same year I also read Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, where I learned histories of scientists and mathematicians who showed science is not a linear process but iterative, incremental, and accidental. Later on, I went to study math, physics, and philosophy in college, so there was more training there. I think the next big leap though was teaching and
carrying out research into a classroom intervention for grad school. Lastly, teaching science for a while led me to appreciate the difficulties you cite in your experience with students focused more on the “right” answer.
OH, how could I forget the research club/internship I had in high school: at the end of an entire afternoon doing a miniprep with plasmid transfer as part of a project to sequence the genome of brine shrimp, the whole procedure totally failed for whatever reason. It was incredibly formative in failure, but I obviously block it out most of the time, haha
Have a great time in New Hampshire, Leah! (And stay warm up there)
Thomas More College is my Alma Mater. I unfortunately can’t attend your talk because I live in NC now, but I’m glad you’re going to TMC to speak and good luck with your talk.
My father was a brilliant scientist and taught me very early that the experiments that fail are very important and must be written up honestly. So in eighth grade I wrote up my failure to grow crystals, and some theories on why I failed. The teacher gave me a low grade and explained that this was unacceptable, but she also moved me over to the topmost science class section. Maybe - apparently - she also thought the whole thing was a bit of a charade.
You are certainly right that science fairs have lost their way and would profit from a best Blind Alley prize. And a "no grownup touched this project" prize.
Maybe the adult scientists could use such a prize too, given the rate at which they are faking results and having to retract them from prestigious journals because they are not committed to truth over their jobs, which depend on "not being wrong." Well, being wrong is extremely important, and reporting it honestly so that every one else does not go down your same blind alley is a great contribution to science. Best Blind Alley could be great.
When I was in middle school, the *point* of the science fair was to learn the scientific method. I remember seeing an experiment that asked whether hold or cold water would freeze into ice first. You can look at this and think "what a dumb experiment, the answer is obvious" or you can look at this and say "what a great way to learn the method." The point wasn't actually to figure out whether hot or cold water froze first; the point was to walk through the method, to have the experience of doing it.
For learning to think scientifically, I attribute to geometry in high school when we did proofs. That same year I also read Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, where I learned histories of scientists and mathematicians who showed science is not a linear process but iterative, incremental, and accidental. Later on, I went to study math, physics, and philosophy in college, so there was more training there. I think the next big leap though was teaching and
carrying out research into a classroom intervention for grad school. Lastly, teaching science for a while led me to appreciate the difficulties you cite in your experience with students focused more on the “right” answer.
OH, how could I forget the research club/internship I had in high school: at the end of an entire afternoon doing a miniprep with plasmid transfer as part of a project to sequence the genome of brine shrimp, the whole procedure totally failed for whatever reason. It was incredibly formative in failure, but I obviously block it out most of the time, haha
Have a great time in New Hampshire, Leah! (And stay warm up there)
Thomas More College is my Alma Mater. I unfortunately can’t attend your talk because I live in NC now, but I’m glad you’re going to TMC to speak and good luck with your talk.
It's been below freezing for weeks in Maryland, so I've been in training!
It was below freezing in NC for the last couple of weeks, which is very unusual for us (damn those 2 snowstorms that froze half the country)
I wish I could be there. I hope you come to NJ soon!
This is beautiful, Leah! Cheering for you!