January 16, 2011
by peter.taylor
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Ideas: Developing epidemiological literacy requires: 1) collaboration with others (of differing skills and interests) and reflection on personal and professional development. 2) establishing our own practices of learning from material we don’t fully grasp at first reading/hearing. These two ideas … Continue reading
January 15, 2011
by peter.taylor
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In 2007 I started teaching a graduate course on Epidemiological Thinking for non-specialists, in which I, as a non-specialist myself, emphasized epidemiological literacy with a view to collaborating thoughtfully with specialists, not technical expertise (see http://bit.ly/epicourse). More people should be … Continue reading
January 13, 2011
by peter.taylor
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I have heard some argue that prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion would reduce society’s burden in having to give special care for very disabled people and that this would free up funds for general health care, education, etc. for the … Continue reading
January 12, 2011
by peter.taylor
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In 1977 independent scholar Allan Chase (1914-93) published The Legacy of Malthus: The Social Costs of the New Scientific Racism, a lengthy, critical historical account of scientific–Chase would say “pseudoscientific”–rationales to support the division of humanity into two “races”–a small, … Continue reading
January 9, 2011
by peter.taylor
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My previous conceptual starter kit for thinking about genes, race, and IQ test scores jumped in too quickly. It might be better as a sequel to the new starter kit here (designed for a high school audience at a museum … Continue reading
January 4, 2011
by peter.taylor
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The simple classroom activity presented in the previous two posts allows us to unpack the simple picture of science as empirical observation and rational interpretation (i.e., identifying patterns and trying to explain them). These are only two of the many … Continue reading
January 3, 2011
by peter.taylor
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OK readers. Keep in mind your answers to the questions raised in the previous post about patterns in data that link parents and offspring. In this post I describe what usually emerges when I ask these questions in my classes … Continue reading
January 2, 2011
by peter.taylor
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I want to ask you, the reader, to be a scientist and try to make sense of data that link parents and offspring. Consider one plot (of your own choosing) from figures 1-4 depicting heights of 63 undergraduate college students … Continue reading
December 8, 2010
by peter.taylor
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Problem-Based Learning (PBL) begins from a Scenario in which the problems are not well defined*, Students brainstorm so as to identify a range of problems related to the scenario and choose which of these they want to investigate and report … Continue reading
December 6, 2010
by peter.taylor
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Participants can learn about the dialogue process on the spot, with no prior preparation or introductory lecture, by following this script (which borrows from a script by Allyn Bradford (2001); see also Isaacs, W. 1999. Dialogue. NY: Currency, and a … Continue reading