Bruce Alberts, the former President of the National Academies (USA), has now taken over as Editor-in Chief of Science. Judging by his editorial in this week’s issue Considering Science Education there could be some interesting times ahead in Science offices.
Here’s part of what Bruce has to say about science education…
I consider science education to be critically important to both science and the world, and I shall frequently deal with this topic on this page. Let’s start with a big-picture view. Science has greatly advanced our understanding of the natural world and has enabled the creation of countless medicines and useful devices. It has also led to behaviors that have improved lives. The public appreciates these practical benefits of science, and science and scientists are generally respected, even by those who are not familiar with how science works or what exactly it has discovered.
But society may less appreciate the advantage of having everyone acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that are central to practice of successful science: scientific habits of mind. These habits include a critical attitude toward established claims and a strong desire for logic and evidence. As famous astronomer Carl Sagan put it, science is our best detector (檢測器). Individuals and societies clearly need a means to logically test the constant clever attempts to operate our purchasing and political decisions. They also need to challenge what is unreasonable, including the intolerance that led to so many regional and global conflicts.
So how does this relate of science education? Might it be possible to encourage, across the world, scientific habits of mind, so as to create more rational (理性的) societies everywhere? In principle, a strong expansion of science education could provide the world with such an opportunity, but only if scientists, educators, and policy-makers redefine (重新定義) the goals of science education, beginning with college-level teaching. Rather than only conveying what science has discovered about the natural world, as is done now in most countries, we should provide first all students with the knowledge and practice of how to think like a scientist.
【小題1】 Which of the following is NOT included in the “scientific habits of mind”?

______the extremely hot weather, we continued having classes．

1. A.
   Thanks to
2. B.
   In addition to
3. C.
   In defence of
4. D.
   Regardless of

He had never spent a ________ day.

1. A.
   more worry
2. B.
   most worrying
3. C.
   more worrying
4. D.
   most worried

Father went to his doctor for ________ about his heart trouble．

1. A.
   an advice
2. B.
   advice
3. C.
   advices
4. D.
   the advices

The reason why we don't trust him is ________ he often lies．

1. A.
   why
2. B.
   that
3. C.
   because
4. D.
   for what