Show Me The Evidence

Friday’s Wall Street Journal had two interesting articles. The Science Journal column raised the question of whether we really know how schoolchildren learn. The second, a review of Michael Crichton’s new book, State of Fear, raised the question of scientific proof. Are these articles touting the Journal’s conservative philosophy or is there a nugget of truth there? Do we really know as much as we think we do? That’s been a basic question of man since time immemorial. We think that Science can give us the answers. But, is this more a wish than a reality?

Sharon Begley in the Science Column used an experiment with only 112 third-graders to see whether they learned better by “discovery learning” (the kids solve the problem largely on their own) or “direct instruction” (the teacher gives explicit instructions as to what to do to solve the problem and explains what is going on). As you’d expect, the kids instructed directly gave better results: more kids solved the problem. Furthermore, the idea that discovery learning gives students a deeper, more enduring knowledge did not seem to hold up.

Of course, the sample is minuscule, but the issue it raises has deep societal implications. What proof is there for either claim? Where is the evidence? This whole question of today’s education is one that troubles a friend of mine. She notes the high cost of education, particularly on this island; but education is costly everywhere in the country. Then, she asks whether the ‘output’ is any better than it was 20 or 40 or 60 years ago. Of course, she has a hard time defining ‘output’ in any measurable sense.

Crichton argues that the environmental movement is, at heart, a religion. And, as such, it is based on faith, not facts. Crichton is by no means a stupid guy. The book is an outgrowth of a speech he gave to San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, so the book probably represents his thoughts, rather than just an attempt to make money. We’ve all heard that the Greenland ice cap will be melting because of rising temperatures. Well, the review claims that it is scientifically established that the temperature in Greenland has fallen 2.2 degrees C. per decade since 1987. Another scientist claims the sea level is falling not rising in the Indian Ocean. The World Conservation Union - whatever that is and wherever they get their funds from – found that since 1600 only about 1000 species of animals, insects and plants combined have vanished.

This is just another example that in science, as with most of life, you’re really on your own. There is no one out there with the answers. You have to figure out your own.