Advice to Potential (Science)
Students
What should a prospective college student look for in
quality classroom science instruction? I attempt to answer
that question by offering my opinions. I also offer some
questions that prospective science students should ask of
faculty at candidate institutions. Some of my suggestions
and questions are quite controversial. However, they are
supported by personal experience and personal conversations
with faculty members at various institutions and I firmly
stand by them. If I were to go back to college, these would
be the things I would look for and the questions I would
ask my potential instructors. I realize that it is probably
not possible to find a single institution that meets all of
my criteria, but someone has to start demanding genuine
excellence and it may as well be you. Many aspects of
quality actually come down to money. You, as the one paying
the tuition, have tremendous untapped power to get
something better. There are certainly exceptions to every
seemingly negative statement I make.
Advice to science students in XHTML format. Everything here is
subject to revision.
Advice to Potential (Science)
Teachers
I have historically gone out of my way to encourage
students to become public school teachers. I am not doing
that so much these days, and here I will explain why. I
will also explain what science teachers are likely to
encounter from their peers and from their administrators
based on my observations over the years. There are
certainly exceptions to every seemingly negative statement
I make.
Advice to potential teachers in XHTML format. Everything here is
subject to revision.
