Science Is a Verb: Teaching the Process of Scientific Thinking

Science is not a series of facts but a process for drawing conclusions by making structured observations.  Scientific skills are essential not only for scientists but for teachers, community organizers, environmental decision-makers and other citizens.  These community members are the ultimate consumers of the graphs, inferences, models, and scientific reports produced through scientific research.  Yet, the proportion of the U.S. population with adequate training in math and science so as to be able to evaluate and understand the products of scientific research is so low as to cause considerable national concern.  Key scientific concepts such as ‘stating a hypothesis’ or ‘drawing conclusions from data’ are not being taught to American students.  I will discuss efforts to fill this gap.  First, “The Truth About Science”, a curriculum that teaches students to ask testable hypotheses, design unbiased methods, conduct statistics, and communicate their results.  Second, a NOAA-funded university extension course for teachers.  I conclude with ideas for working collectively (scientists and educators) toward the development of exceptional local and national math and science education systems.