Category: Items of Interest

Science “Fair?”

As a science-y spouse of a secondary school biology teacher, I’ve judged my share of science fairs. I have routinely struggled with the judging criteria. In one case, my wife rewrote the judging rubric being used to focus on how well the student implemented the scientific method, not superficial elements. I often struggled with being asked to give points for “importance” or “novel research”. These are high school/middle school science fairs. You want curiosity. And screw “novel”. Reproducibility and retesting are part of science too. I would leave glowing notes complimenting students even though the judging criteria wouldn’t let me give them top scores because, for example, parts of their board presentation were hand written.

The previous paragraph was an incoherent ramble. For a very coherent discussion of Science Fair issues, especially reinforcing privilege and excluding disadvantaged students, you need to read Erin Salter’s “Science fairs: rewarding talent or privilege?” at PLoS’s Sci-Ed blog.

The nominal purpose of science fairs is to promote student-led inquiry and give kids hands-on experience with the scientific method. Much of our science education centers on the “product” of science – established laws, facts, and theories…Student-led projects (like those done for the science fair) are one way to incorporate open-ended inquiry into education.

However, the rewards system of the science fair is flawed. There is no equity of access to lab facilities and equipment or access to scientific mentors, meaning some students are disadvantaged from the start…the students who win these science fairs will often be the ones with the best access. – Erin Salter

 

Crowdfund it?

Need money for your research project? Then someone has probably suggested “crowdfunding” as a solution. But, what does that really mean? Is it really a good solution? How would you actually implement it?

The University of Washington’s College of the Environment has created a crowdfunding FAQ based on the early experiences of its students.

I’m certain that experts in this area will find issues with the document, but what is of real interest is the academic institution taking an active role in trying to help their faculty and students navigate waters that are much trickier and more complex than many realize. In particular, they are providing guidance with how to use crowdfunding within their organization, which will vary from place to place.

There is also a flowchart. Internet, you love flowcharts.

*Hat tip to Steven Roberts.

The CFAA Reform “Ask Me Anything”

A long list of characters and organizations  involved in the fight to reform the outdated and overly-broad Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (CFAA) – the law used to prosecute Aaron Swartz prior to his suicide and criminalizes violating user agreements – just did an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit. It is an interesting read:

I think there’s a growing constituency that opposes over-criminalization. CEI, Heritage, TechFreedom, Right On Crime, etc are helping to legitimize that position among conservative and libertarian Republicans, on spending and state authority grounds. The majority of Dems on House Judiciary, the committee of jurisdiction here, are in the orbit of the Progressive and/or Black Caucus, and are sympathetic to concerns about over-crim, prison industrial complex, etc. We need people who are working to legitimize those concerns/frames to keep up there work and have increased success as they do so, so we can discuss issues like the CFAA through those frames and have it resonate. – David Adam Segal, Executive Director of Demand Progress

There is an irony to people asking for fewer emails kind of spamming the thread, which will make you want to skip about 50% of the comments. Most take the form of “I really support your cause, but not enough to deal with a couple of extra emails each week.” Full credit to the reformers, as I did not see a single reply from them like, “Oh, you support us that much? THANKS!”

Decoding ENCODE

On Sunday, I participated in a panel discussion of the ENCODE project and issues  related to it, with the folks from ScienceSunday via Google+ Hangouts. Ian Bosdet and I joined hosts Rajini Rao, Buddhini Samarasinghe, and Scott Lewis. to talk about ENCODE and make it accessible to those without a decade of post-graduate training in genomics If you have a spare 78 minutes, the discussion can be viewed on YouTube.

Cultural relevance

In a post for Convergent Ed, John Romano makes a compelling case for being “with it” as an educator and communicator. He admits to watching TMZ – every night! Why? Because analogies and metaphors are only effective tools if the reference imagery is relevant to your audience.

On the front lines of education, there is no room for intellectual vanity.