ScienceDaily: How Dads Influence Their Daughters' Interest In Math: "'We've known for a while now that females do as well as males on tests that measure ability in math and science,' said Pamela Davis-Kean, a psychologist at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). 'But women are still underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math graduate programs and in careers based on those disciplines.'"
I am concerned about this with my daughter. I believe her to very smart and plenty capable to do this kind of work but there can be other factors at work to. The cultures found in the math and sciences are not totally women friendly.
I wonder if it may be that they have the impression that these things don't relate to anything in the real world. And get out of it because they want to do other more realistic things.
That is my biggest problem with most curricula is that everything is taught in a vacuum. Each subject is taught without any relation to any other subject. History is a set of names, places and dates that are rarely ever related to each other except that they happened before or after each other.
I learned far more calculus in my physics class then in my calculus class. Mainly because it hooks into other parts of my knowledge. Newton used calculus to be able to explain how physics works in a quantitative manner.
I totally loved "Connections" because history was suddenly a action oriented where one thing happened which caused or allowed something else to happen and we see the results in our daily lives.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Families' Eldest Boys Do Best on Tests - Forbes.com
Families' Eldest Boys Do Best on Tests - Forbes.com: "Boys at the top of the pecking order - either by birth or because their older siblings died - score higher on IQ tests than their younger brothers. The question of whether firstborn and only children are really smarter than those who come along later has been hotly debated for more than a century."
Reading the article it seems that they can have up to a 3 point advantage, but 3 IQ points just isn't all that much. You'd be hard pressed to work with someone over time and notice that difference.
I can see firstborn children getting extra learning from teaching their siblings about how to do things. But I have also noticed that younger siblings start doing things earlier because of that teaching or imitation.
IQ seems to work best in academia. The higher your IQ the better you do in school. That doesn't always translate to doing better in the real world.
From Slashdot
Reading the article it seems that they can have up to a 3 point advantage, but 3 IQ points just isn't all that much. You'd be hard pressed to work with someone over time and notice that difference.
I can see firstborn children getting extra learning from teaching their siblings about how to do things. But I have also noticed that younger siblings start doing things earlier because of that teaching or imitation.
IQ seems to work best in academia. The higher your IQ the better you do in school. That doesn't always translate to doing better in the real world.
From Slashdot
A Student's Guide: Research -- Taking Notes
A Student's Guide: Research -- Taking Notes: "Well, the first rule is quite simple: To take good notes is to know in advance what you are looking for. "
Keeping good notes is always a struggle but well worth the effort.I've mainly gone to the Hipster PDA index card system with data dumps into VoodooPad to keep things safe. However that spellbook from yesterday has fired my imagination. Mainly because it is fun.
From Ask MetaFilter
Keeping good notes is always a struggle but well worth the effort.I've mainly gone to the Hipster PDA index card system with data dumps into VoodooPad to keep things safe. However that spellbook from yesterday has fired my imagination. Mainly because it is fun.
From Ask MetaFilter
Education.com | A Resource for Parents of Learning Children
Education.com | A Resource for Parents of Learning Children
They want to become the WEbMD of education sites. This could be useful.
from CNet
They want to become the WEbMD of education sites. This could be useful.
from CNet
Thursday, June 21, 2007
David Seah : Modern Spellbooks
David Seah : Modern Spellbooks: "As technology gets newer and I get older, learning new things becomes frustrating"
Actually I do similar things when I need to learn something.
When I need to do sensemaking, I create a learning journal. Just someplace to toss all the things I learn as I learn them. I generally use a text file rather then an actual book.
Right now I am learning Dreamweaver for work as we revamp one of our websites. It isn't hard but there are a few pit falls and such that make it interesting. I have created a Dreamweaver Procedures file where I just dump things as I learn them that I think I will need again when I come back to it in a few weeks and won't remember how I did something.
Calling it a spellbook is just so darn cool. though. I'll be using that on a number of new projects I'm starting.
Actually I do similar things when I need to learn something.
When I need to do sensemaking, I create a learning journal. Just someplace to toss all the things I learn as I learn them. I generally use a text file rather then an actual book.
Right now I am learning Dreamweaver for work as we revamp one of our websites. It isn't hard but there are a few pit falls and such that make it interesting. I have created a Dreamweaver Procedures file where I just dump things as I learn them that I think I will need again when I come back to it in a few weeks and won't remember how I did something.
Calling it a spellbook is just so darn cool. though. I'll be using that on a number of new projects I'm starting.
Duckon 2007-Steve Ward's Singing Tesla Coil video
Duckon 2007-Steve Ward's Singing Tesla Coil video: "This is a solid-state Tesla coil. The primary runs at its resonant frequency in the 41 KHz range, and is modulated from the control unit in order to generate the tones you hear."
Serious cool!
Serious cool!
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