Interdisciplinary Exploration Is Key to the Future of Science Education

In his keynote address at FETC 2013 in Orlando Tuesday, science writer Matt Kaplan proclaimed, "There is no reason to limit science education to the expertise of the teacher in the classroom." With so much information at our fingertips, he said, we should be both willing and able to integrate multiple fields of study to enhance our students' experience of science.

When the Curriculum Fails
"As a young student," Kaplan shared, "I loved dinosaurs. The problem, he said, was that he didn't have any dinosaurs in his education. "I kept asking the teachers, 'Where are the dinosaurs?' and they answered, 'I'm sorry, that's just the curriculum for you. There are no dinosaurs."

It's sad, he said, that something a student is passionate about is not being taught because it's not part of the curriculum or, worse, isn't being taught because it isn't going to find its way onto a test.

"There's no reason why dinosaurs, zombies, or vampires can't be used to teach core science concepts." Sure, he admitted, "it would have been really hard for my teachers. They didn't have that kind of content available." But that's no longer the case. The content is there, the technology to distribute and share that content is available, and it can be leveraged to enhance science education at all levels.

Teaching Science Is Telling a Story
As a theatre student at University of California, Davis, Kaplan came to realize the thread that connected science to many other disciplines was storytelling. "Unless you've got a good story," he said, "you've got nothing." When it comes to science, you begin to tell a story based on the facts in front of you, "but it's the story that makes it real." "The thing that really set me on fire," he said, was the process of telling the story of science.

Kaplan shared several anecdotes highlighting the triumphs of cross disciplinary thinking in science: how studying fat-tailed scorpions helped engineers design better helicopter blades; how analyzing spit from a sand worm helped scientists rethink the development of surgical adhesives; how studying popular mythologies from ancient history all the way to the 1950s helps answer questions about geology, medicine, and chemistry.

"There are so many great examples," he said, "of disparate fields cross pollinating in incredibly important ways. "It's really exciting," he said, and it's important that we help our students find that excitement in science education by sharing these stories.

Referencing his article "From Gollum to Avatar," Kaplan talked about how Hollywood has made the technological leap from the original Yoda puppet to completely immersive virtual realities like those found in Avatar's Pandora. "It is amazing," he said. "Technology is being developed for film that can make us forget it's not real." More amazing for Kaplan is that we are approaching a time where we will be able to leverage that technology to teach our students.

"If we have the technology to send a student back to the Jurassic period," he said, "or to send them to the world of Pandora to explore the environment, think about how much we will be able to keep those flames of interest ignited." We just have to embrace it.

About the Author

Chris Riedel is a freelance writer based in Illinois. He can be reached here.

Featured

  • stylized human profiles, tablets, and floating icons

    From Feedback to Flexibility: 5 AI Tools Teachers Should Try

    As a fifth-grade teacher and AI School Champion in the St. Vrain Valley School District, I've seen firsthand how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming education. Here are five AI-enabled tools I've found especially powerful in my classroom and professional practice.

  • computer monitor with a bold AI search bar on the screen

    Google Rolls Out AI Mode in Search

    About a year after introducing AI Overviews for its flagship search offering, Google has announced broad availability of AI Mode in Search.

  • portable Wi-Fi hotspot rests on a stack of books and a laptop in a library

    Senate Votes to Rescind E-Rate Program Funding Loaner WiFi Hotspots for Schools and Libraries

    The Senate has passed a joint resolution to overturn "Addressing the Homework Gap Through the E-Rate Program," a July 2024 expansion to the FCC's E-Rate program that allowed schools and libraries to utilize E-Rate resources to loan out WiFi hotspots to students, school staff, and library patrons.

  • silhouetted student stands before the White House, surrounded by abstract digital graphics of brains, circuits, and AI elements

    White House Sets Sights on AI Education

    A new executive order from President Donald Trump aims to advance America's position in artificial intelligence technology by incorporating AI into education and providing AI training for educators.