Editorial-28 January 2003
The Nexus Between Research and Teaching |
A
recurring theme in reports dealing with the recruitment of the next generation
of scientists is the
decline
of interest in mathematics and the sciences in the school population. The two overarching concerns are
defining the reasons and determining how to reverse the decline. In his recent
editorial in Science
In reviewing how the Institute could
best utilize its resources to make a useful contribution to address the crisis
HHMI's put money where its President's concerns are. The Institute announced at
the end of August last year a
competition to find 20 "outstanding teacher-scholars". Now each of the
winners has been awarded US$1 million for the next four years "to develop new
modes of science teaching." In addition there is an increasing emphasis, though
the resources are relatively small, by the US National Science Foundation as
well as a number of individual US research universities to foster mentored
undergraduate research similar to honours degrees awarded by Australian
universities.
The waning interest of Australian Secondary
Students
in the enabling sciences (provided by John O'Connor, University of Newcastle). The approaches that will be developed
by HHMI's 20 scholar-teachers are to be disseminated broadly, for example
through Website- and/or DVD-based resources. Perhaps Australia's Minister for Education,
Science and Training will encourage those in his charge to monitor the progress
of HHMI's initiative and determine the relevance to the Australian scene. It is
clear that Cech embraces the proposition that to produce "qualified K-12 science
teachers" requires good math and science departments and such departments are the
result of a nexus of good teaching and good research. Which brings us to the matter of what
defines a science department of high quality, the sort from which a
scholar-teacher worth a US$1 million investment can be drawn. The development
of a high quality scientific department takes many years, in general, because
only scientists of high quality are able to put together a department of high
quality. When a prominent scientist leaves a university department, for example
to move overseas double damage is caused, because mediocrity is
self-perpetuating. In the academic world of Western research universities, the
quality of the academic faculty whether it be in the humanities, social sciences,
hard
sciences, medicine, or technology and engineering, is determined primarily in scientific
achievements. This measure is closely related to the quality of teaching. Primarily it
is the quality of the subject matter taught and
the intellectual power the lecturer presents to students. And as Cech emphasises,
what needs to be fostered is developing a productive amalgam between discovery
and the student. The quality of presentation is certainly of great importance
but it is secondary to the quality of the subject matter and the thought processes the lecturer presents. Scientific research is an
indispensable and inseparable part of the best teaching. A teacher who is not
engaged in research has a reduced incentive to keep abreast of the rapid
developments of the science or technology in his field. And one of the
essentials is interacting with ones peers.
If that contact with scientific reality and progress is severed, a department decays;
the quality of its research and teaching will become increasingly substandard. To date there is little indication
that the Federal Government understands, let alone accepts, the necessity for
rebuilding the infrastructure of our research universities so that
revitalised, they would provide the means and the will to produce a next
generation of outstanding Australian scientists, well qualified and enthusiastic
science and maths teachers for K-12 students and as a result,
Today Alex
Reisner
The Funneled Web