Norman Edmund’s Educational Blog

From The Education of Henry Adams: “Chaos often breeds life, when order brings habit.” Too often we just do the same thing over and over, but then something occurs and instead of the usual outcome we have chaos and problems. That’s the time for the scientific method to guide us to finding a solution and […]

It is important that individuals are thoroughly familiar with the scientific method, but knowledge of it also aids in teamwork. Years ago, research was often a solo activity, solutions to today’s complicated problems usually require teamwork. Team directors can better manage a project if they know what stage of the scientific method team members are […]

In an intellectual age of reason, the Harvard/Conant group and misguided followers (or whoever they are) have reverted to dependence on authoritarianism rather than research and experimentation on a matter of extreme importance.
The number of people harmed grew to millions, then a billion or more, as the blunder spread to England and many other countries. […]

I have been telling you about the harms of the blunder. Here is more information about it. There is a reluctance to correct or even publicize the blunder because of the leaders and organizations involved. Having researched the situation for 16 years, I believe that correction of this blunder is so important that I must […]

An article entitled “U.S. Leaders Fret Over Students’ Math and Science Weakness” appeared in the September 14, 2005 issue of Education Week.
There is no mention of the situation that our students’ main weakness in science is that they have been inadequately taught the scientific method. Science is its method, yet our national educational leaders ignore […]

While it is a disaster that the scientific method is not taught in all colleges and universities, I call attention to the disaster as it affects our liberal arts colleges.
My research indicates and I believe logic supports:
Liberal arts students should be taught and trained to be specialists in the scientific method - the complete method […]

Educational researchers and others in the social sciences sometimes have difficulty reaching a conclusion because there is so much existing literature. They must choose which to consider. Unfortunately, in the past, many researchers have ignored evidence contrary to the theories and hypotheses they advocate. Since this constitutes fasification under our ethics requirements, they must guard […]

From the Talking Point column in New Scientist (November 19, 2005):
“In psychiatry, the cost of erroneous scientific theories can be incalculable. Get things wrong (or even only half right) and once adopted by the profession it can take years to weed them out. The result can be millions of shattered lives. Some of the world’s […]