Editorial
Motivating Science, a collection of articles from the first five years of The Pantaneto Forum is now available from bookshops. We are offering a discount for direct orders, see our order page.
Next year we will be publishing Science on Television by Bienvenido León. The book is a clear and systematic guide to the narrative and rhetorical techniques used by science documentary filmmakers.
The energy problems the World will face over the next forty to fifty years are complex and some might say even intractable. How refreshing therefore when the main issues are set out succinctly and with clarity. In his remarks to the World Renewable energy Congress, “Prospects and Problems for World Energy”, Katepalli Sreenivasan steers clear of the amorphous chaos generated by political partisanship and unscientific rhetoric and explains the problems and possible solutions in a clear and objective way.
Educational reform is not an easy path to follow. In “The Two Cultures and the Real World”, Lui Lam describes his personal journey to try to create an interdisciplinary science course for all students whatever their major subject. Taking his cue from the “two cultures” gap of C.P. Snow, he tries to reduce this gap by encouraging students to engage with science and its methodology and extend their critical thinking and communication skills.
In “Enhancing the Quality of Argumentation in School Science”, Simon, Erduran and Osborne look at a novel approach to science teaching which promotes the practice of “argument” in science lessons. The idea is to promote and assess student’s scientific thinking and reasoning skills. In this detailed study the authors analyse a number of groups of teachers and pupils and summarise the salient findings that have emerged from the work and explore their implications.
Nigel Sanitt
Editor
ISSN 1741-1572
Contents
Articles
The Two Cultures and the Real World, Lui Lam
Book Review