Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 11:50:32 -0800 (PST)
Message-Id: <199712231950.LAA00215@isaac.exploratorium.edu>
To: pinhole@exploratorium.edu
From: Richard Brooks <richardb@exploratorium.edu>
Subject: Advanced Integrated Science thread
Dearest Pinholers,
I had intended to toss in my two cents' worth a little earlier in
the discussion about AP science classes, but my mind wondered ... and
eventually forgot. Karen Kalumuck's recent invitation [for 10:00-1:00,
Saturday, 1/17] to the brainstorming session has reminded my of the string I
was considering. (My apologies to those of you who prefer the quick
exchange of volleys to the occasional wordy lob....)
Back in olden days, when I was taking my science classes in high
school, my school district had the odd-seeming rule that biology could not
be taken for science credit [for Univ. of California admission] by freshmen,
while chemistry could. I was not yet in a position to openly question the
rationale for such a policy, but thought it stupid nonetheless. By the time
I finished taking chemistry and physics, I had gotten the English bug real
bad, and started to focus my energies on improving my writing skills because
I realized that the academic backwater that I was stuck in would leave me
woefully unprepared for the world beyond.
It was around this time (like, my junior year), that I started
proposing that freshmen science be standardized into a science-writing
class. I wasn't fond of the school board, but I had no particular beef with
them--the standardized class would merely allow the general science students
and the freshman who couldn't get science credit for biology under the
status quo to take a science class with a strong writing emphasis, and
transferable science credit. I would now switch this class from being a
freshmen class to a senior class (and, of course, eliminate any freshmen
credit restrictions).
The problem that I saw then--that the communication problems that
most students had (up to, and including, the deciphering of "word problems")
were left minimally addressed by their coursework--seems to have gone
essentially untouched by our schools, public and private alike. Most
students (and many of their teachers) don't have the writing skills to write
themselves out of a wet paper bag--and even the 'poets' or 'writers' seem to
have suffered at the hand of grade inflation.
What I would propose instead of AP anything [all AP bad--very, very
bad!] in science, would be an omnibus integrated [and interdisciplinary]
science AND writing class with the emphasis on communications for practical
AND academic survival. In my particular vision of the class, of course
[because of my academic background], there would a basic linguistics
component to reinforce a more 'scientific' understanding of language in
order to improve both the retrieval and production of information for the
class. In addition to helping with information accuracy, this should also
help with presentation.
I hope to see all the interested parties in this Advanced Integrated
Science course at the meeting on Saturday, January 17 [10:00am-1:00pm], here
at the Exploratorium. Thank you for your time and attention.
'umbly yours,
El Troll
Richard Brooks, Library Troll
The Exploratorium
3601 Lyon Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 353-0493
(415) 561-0370 fax
<richardb@exploratorium.edu>