Re: The Phoenix has landed!

In article <g1np6c$7kd$2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Paul J Gans wrote:
Mike Dworetsky <platinum198@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Robert J. Kolker" <bobkolker@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:XpSdnU8uYpjr-qHVnZ2dnUVZ_gednZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mark Isaak wrote:


I have seen firsthand that that is not true, at least not when I was in
High School. NASA had active outreach to schools in the 1970s; I presume
it still does.


Instead of bitching that NASA does NADA why don't you see for yourself?

http://education.gsfc.nasa.gov/

BTW a few years ago one of my former students was hired by Space Telescope
Institute as director of public outreach. Not NASA but both publicly
funded.

Why do U.S.A. students do shitty in math and science compared to students
in other nations?

Because it is hard to get good teachers who know these subjects? I think
you will find that there are [oversimplifying] two groups of students, a
small one that does extremely well, and a larger group that includes many
who do very poorly.

I'd put it differently. Anyone with brains enough to be
a good teacher can double or triple his or her salary by
working in private industry.

It is capitalism at work, sub-branch "you get what you
pay for".

The result is that most of our teachers are dedicated (less
than a majority) or ill-trained and ill-equipped (far more,
and possibly a majority.)

Couple that with students bombarded from birth by ads that
stress the importance of being Mr. Big and the unimportance
of getting a decent education. Where on TV does the Geek
get the girl?


'The Big Bang Theory'. Mondays 8 PM on CBS.

That now makes 1 show in the last 40 years. See, things are
improving.


--
Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links.
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

.

Loading