04 Oct 2012
I had read this article and intended to share it with my class. Then, I realized while it's important they are already attending school ... so it's a mute point.
"The best way to teach science better is to find better science teachers."
However, what I find the article lacking and I found important is how do you find that better science teacher. The answer in my opinion is actually pretty easy. You make it easy and interesting for people who do those "topics" in their day jobs to actually come and "teach" those "topics" in the classroom. The best professors I had in graduate school were instructors who teaching was a secondary job something to fill their nights.
There are several incentives beside pay that would make it worth those experts time to actually teach those topics. The other interesting idea is to actually pair up traditional teachers with subject matter experts. The teachers help translate the topics into lesson plans and discuss the "how-to" of teaching since everyone is not cut out to be a teacher. The advantage is that at the end of the day the expert hopefully learns eventually to teach and the teacher learns the material in a practical way. The end result is better for students who actually get to see group work, group think, practical knowledge, and applied knowledge all in a format that hopefully they can absorb.
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