New Education Advisory Panel

[Sc00ter]

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php...es-formation-of-education-advisory-panel.html

I'm a bit confused by this announcement. While I commend the JREF for taking this step I guess I need some convincing due to the people selected.

Don't get me wrong everybody selected has done great things for skepticism, but are they the right people for panel? With the emphasis being specifically on K-12 classes, to only have two people out of the 5 with direct experience with K-12 teaching seems a bit off to me. That and also having nobody with pre-high school experience seems a bit odd.

I met plenty of teachers at TAM7 and TAM8, they may not be big names but I'm sure they could have helped with this.

 

[DallasDad]

I have a problem with the wording of the announcement. How is the group going to provide reliable information about the paranormal? What kind of reliable information is available for subjects that don't exist?

 

[Cuddles]

I'm a bit confused by this announcement. While I commend the JREF for taking this step I guess I need some convincing due to the people selected.

Don't get me wrong everybody selected has done great things for skepticism, but are they the right people for panel? With the emphasis being specifically on K-12 classes, to only have two people out of the 5 with direct experience with K-12 teaching seems a bit off to me. That and also having nobody with pre-high school experience seems a bit odd.

I'm not sure I see the problem. Two school teachers, two university lecturers (one specialised in learning and perception, one in science and pseudoscience with a long involvement with the JREF and the challenge), and one author of science and critical thinking books for children. While I don't know all that much about the people in question, I can't think how you'd get a much better group just going from their backgrounds.

As for needing people with experience with younger children, I don't know how it works in the US, but in the UK if you're qualified to teach in secondary school, you're more than qualified to teach in primary school. It's going the other way that's the problem.

I have a problem with the wording of the announcement. How is the group going to provide reliable information about the paranormal? What kind of reliable information is available for subjects that don't exist?

Again, I don't see the problem. Providing reliable information about the paranormal is pretty much the whole point of the JREF, as well as many other similar organisations. The reliable information is the fact that it doesn't exist. Importantly, it's all the evidence and reasoning that leads us to that conclusion, along with the skills required to gather the evidence and engage in the reasoning ourselves.

 

[DrJen]

I'll happily try to convince, Sc00ter...I only know a couple of the folks on the panel (one personally, one by his activities). Matt Lowry is someone who constantly looks for ways to instill critical thinking in his students. And he does so in an entertaining manner, which I think is one of the strongest points of the JREF. He knows what kids like, he knows his science, he can help spread skills. Daniel Loxton has thrown himself into various projects (Disclaimer: I'm a huge Jr. Skeptic fan) to inform people how to get involved...a lay person writing a book on evolution? seems crazy? but there was a gap in info there for kids, and he fixed it. Both of these folks have moved critical thinking from armchair quarterbacking to actual education. I don't know the other folks (except in name), but I suspect this is a panel of highly motivated people who are going to make things happen. I sit sorta on the sidelines, organizing my local group, bringing folks together, but Lowry and Loxton and I suspect their co-panelists are going to push it to the next level. So I say, yay!

 

[Sc00ter]

I'll happily try to convince, Sc00ter...I only know a couple of the folks on the panel (one personally, one by his activities). Matt Lowry is someone who constantly looks for ways to instill critical thinking in his students. And he does so in an entertaining manner, which I think is one of the strongest points of the JREF. He knows what kids like, he knows his science, he can help spread skills. Daniel Loxton has thrown himself into various projects (Disclaimer: I'm a huge Jr. Skeptic fan) to inform people how to get involved...a lay person writing a book on evolution? seems crazy? but there was a gap in info there for kids, and he fixed it. Both of these folks have moved critical thinking from armchair quarterbacking to actual education. I don't know the other folks (except in name), but I suspect this is a panel of highly motivated people who are going to make things happen. I sit sorta on the sidelines, organizing my local group, bringing folks together, but Lowry and Loxton and I suspect their co-panelists are going to push it to the next level. So I say, yay!

I agree with nearly everything you said.. But, being married to somebody that was a high school science teacher for 8 years (currently taking a break and going for her masters degree and teaching one college level class part time), and being involved in various capacities myself over the years, having a background in how the lumbering, slow moving machine that is the US K-12 school system I think is key to making this work. I hope it works, but without this insight it's going to be nearly impossible to crack through to get these things into the hands of the right people.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Congrats to our very own MattusMaximus!!!