US schools: why is science so overfunded?

[ComputerGeek]

I was talking to the chair of our department yesterday and I received some more interesting facts. I forget what scope he was speaking of (our university, the CSU system, or hte entire nation), but he said that recently, foreigners started to out-number Americans in science graduate programs! I mean more and more people are coming to America for their education but even worse, fewer and fewer people are interested in science in this country.

We were also talking about funding problems. He said funding isn't an issue, its just that its pissed into projects that have no business being a priority at the university. They are increasing tuition 10% a year from now on as well! Executives are getting a 15% raise... staff a measily 3.8% raise (after supposedly 5 or so years with no raises)... Now where in gods name is the money going?

Universities buy equipment and the price of keeping the entire institution running is extremely high.

as for the interest in science.. LOOK AT THE DEBATE! ID is being touted as science! Mathematics is not seen as relevant to students in high school. it is ridiculous, but in the US, less and less value is being placed on science and math in the culture.

 

[Chi Meson]

My physics class in high school was always the dirtiest. But then again, my physics labs here at FSU are pretty dirty too.

Your name is the reason!

 

[Pengwuino]

The NCLB is the No Child Left Behind Act, but it does not Legislate parenting or student performance, it legislates schools and educators.

You just claimed earlier that NCLB does not improve student-parent relationships... how exactly is it suppose to improve that? Grade parents? Fund hugs? I thought for a moment that maybe you didn't know NCLB was legislation passed down by Congress and not an all-powerful entity capable of modifying parental relationships with their children.

 

[Blahness]

Good Question!
that is what I was getting to :-)
I was hoping though that some one would over think it and go into "story problem mode".

That reminds me of MindTrap. Fun game, where the problem misleads you.

I get your point, however. Importance > Difficulty. ^_^'

But see, High School oversimplifies it into "You're trying to find out what the most acidic and basic liquid of these 5 are. State the question."

"Of these 5 liquids: (liquids), which is the most acidic, and which is the most basic?"


Later on, it might be better, but at 10th grade, that's what we're taught. I believe you have a good point with heavily grading what is most important, but I still can't shake the feeling that grades are being inflated in the lab...

Can you explain "Must be testable"?

 

[ShawnD]

Can you explain "Must be testable"?

State your objective of being in the lab, then state what you plan to get from this. For example "determine if a dog is diabetic" is a horrible test objective. What does that even mean? A better one is "test the % glycated hemoglobin in dog blood to determine if a dog is diabetic". It states what you are doing in the lab as well as what that data is supposed to point towards.

 

[Blahness]

^Ah, that makes sense. Thank you, ShawnD. ^_^'

Anyway, Here's what I did in science class today:

Went in
Did Bellwork (Start-Of-Class review of other materials, just 2 or 3 simple questions)
Took a page of notes on DNA (A-T, C-G, what DNA is made of(Sugar, phosphate, one of A-T or C-G, how those bond like that save mutations, Hydrogen bond between A-T and C-G, and how Sugars bond to the Nitrogen Bases.) We did that in 55 minutes.

The last 45 minutes, we were instructed to do a project involving "creating our own DNA particle", where we looked at a list of eye colors with matching DNA bases (Green eyes, for example, was CAT.) We'd then match the C's with G's and A's with T's, and then, using colored paper, MAKE a DNA particle(no helix), with phosphates between sugars, and sugars connecting to nitrogen bases, and A-T C-G connections. We are spending 3 days doing this project. I could not see the educational value, so I asked my teacher, who said it "solidifies the memorization of what we've learned". Makes sense, but MUST I BE FORCED to do this?

My theory: Unfortunately, schools cater to those who lag behind, pulling advanced students behind where they could be. See, over the summer, a friend and I had drawn out the molecular structures of the nitrogen bases, and ATP and such. Then we come to class, and make a strand of DNA.

Anyway, that's the theory I'm seeing. Truth, or false? Discuss.