Retorts

Science Education Worries

I have no argument with Dr Packer's specific comments on the 1990 School Cert Science paper [Feb] as far as boo-boos and ambiguities are concerned, but I do disagree with the view underlying much of what he says -- that science education should mirror "real" science in its modus operandi. This is not stated in so many words, but is repeatedly implied.

This view is certainly a very common one, and is held by people of all educational backgrounds according to my own observations. But I (and many other science educators) would challenge the notion that what's good for science must ipso facto be good for science education, and that science education must conversely be faulty or amiss should its modus operandi differ from those of science.

Barend Vlaardingerbroek, Papua New Guinea