(no subject)

[electricland]

via this morning's Metro: I think this is quite a brilliant idea. (News story on p. 19 of this rather slow PDF.)

“In Western science, we aspire to be the objective and detached observer. But from the Aboriginal perspective, the observer is always included, and how he or she experiences and understands the world is very important,” Bartlett [Cheryl Bartlett, Canada Research Chair in Integrative Science at the University College of Cape Breton] says.

Bartlett has created the world’s first “big picture” university science program, where the knowledge found in science textbooks is combined with that of the elders of the Mi’kmaq tribe to create classes that challenge students to use their “whole mind” when thinking about science.

As part of this approach, Bartlett encourages students to create personal metaphors to help understand scientific concepts and ideas. For example, a student might compare the different parts of a cell with the people in her life, or the parts of a car. “This causes learners to draw upon themselves as creative thinkers, and to see connections,” she says. A practiced eye for patterns and links, she adds, is critical in fields such as health care and resource management.

The approach has been successful in engaging Aboriginal students. Before the program started in 1998 there were no First Nations students in UCCB’s science program, a situation typical in universities across Canada. Today, there are more than 35 First Nations students enrolled. Bartlett insists the value of integrative science extends beyond First Nations students to science education in general.

Comments

[stilldeepwater.livejournal.com]

Quantum chemistry would have been a lot more fun with this approach, and probably easier to remember.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Yes! It might even have made some sense!

...nah, probably not.