Writers' Responsibility to Give Science Away

On January 31, 2013 Dr. Katherine Hirsh-Pasek came to give a talk at Ursinus College entitled "From the Lab to the Living Room: Where Psychological Science Meets the Common Good." During the talk, Dr. Hirsh-Pasek told us about what she called "the education pickle" that is plaguing the American education system. America is not on the list of top ten countries in math, reading, or science. In fact, we are not even close to dreaming of the top ten in any of those categories, and 50% of inner city students do not graduate high school. She attributes this to the "learning industry" in the U.S., which refers to the way children are taught and tested such that the education system has a tendency to profit from memorization, which is not necessarily the best way for children to learn. 

Dr. Hirsh-Pasek went on to tell us about studies she and her research partners have conducted in the psychological science field which aimed to find out which methods of instruction are most effective and conducive to learning. The studies she talked about were focused primarily on early childhood education, and the general findings were that guided play is the most effective method of teaching children. Guided play involves allowing children to work in an environment that is designed to point them in the direction of a certain type of knowledge or information. The idea is that when a child is pushed towards the correct answer or way of doing something, they figure it out on their own, and therefor have a better rate of retention, and greater likelihood of using the learned method in the future. 

The studies she talked about had significant findings, but Dr. Hirsh-Pasek also presented the very interesting and relevant issue of getting this scientific research out to the public in order to facilitate change. She referenced George Miller's 1969 Presidential Address to the American Psychological Association, during which he discussed the difficulty and importance of "giving science away." Scientists can make important discoveries that should facilitate societal changes in many different areas, but the people who have the power to make these changes very often do not get their hands on the scientific information that would lead to these things. 

Science writers have the means and the abilities to help society by "giving science away" to the public. Studies like Dr. Hirsh-Pasek's have the ability to alter the way society is run, but they cannot have significant impact unless science writers step in and make the results of the studies readable and accessible to the general public. If science like this can be publicized, it is far more likely that it will get into the hands and minds of people with the power to have an impact. All it takes is one person to read an article, or one parent sitting in on Dr. Hirsh-Pasek's talk at Ursinus to go home and use the guided play techniques, or talk to their child's school administrators to change the life of a child who otherwise may have grown up without ever knowing their true potential.