Inquiry Teaching Is in the News
On Wednesday, January 18, I discussed hands-on, inquiry and discovery teaching needs the scientific method. The Thursday, January 19 issue of The Wall Street Journal has a good article on p. A-9 by Robert Tomsho on hands-on, inquiry teaching vs. direct instruction of subject matter, entitled “What’s the Right Formula?”
This question has been debated continually for years. If a reporter investigates the subject, he or she finds no reference to my claim that the scientific method should be a prominent part of the teaching of science. Our top educational leaders have ignored my efforts since 1992 to consider or even debate the issue. Unfortunately, our science and educational magazines have not covered the issue either, so the public is largely unfamiliar with the problem.
Please spread the word that science is its method. The method is the scientific method. It should be tuaght across the curricula in all grades, including college. It’’s the only way we can succeed in getting scientifically valid research, which is so greatly needed in the social sciences.
