Mercutio
2nd October 2006, 07:24 AM
I am so proud…
While some of us, myself included, argue on internet message boards about this scam artist, that faker, these snake-oil salesmen or those misguided researchers, Kiless has been out making a real difference in the real world. In the most recent edition of The Skeptic (Australia), the winners of the first Western Australia Skeptics Awards for Young Critical Writers were announced:
Aim: to encourage critical thinking and writing by students in Years 8-12 at WA secondary schools.
Topic: any curious belief or claim, not necessarily current or popular, but which is testable.
Philosophy: adult believers rarely embrace critical thinking, so we must reach young people before they get set in their ways.
Means: half a dozen brochures sent to each of the 96 largest WA secondary schools in metro and country areas (out of a total of 369), representing about 92,000 students or two-thirds of the total.
Details and a downloadable brochure were also posted on the skeptics website.
This was an inaugural program, so there was not a lot of response…but:
The most inspiring response to our Awards came from the Methodist Ladies’ College, a prestigious non-Governments school in suburban Perth, whose Year 10 English class used the Awards as part of a term devoted to skeptical and critical thinking. Teacher Kylie Sturgess told us:
It’s been a challenging and fun task for the class … and I hope that the experience will lead to more entries, a greater range of ages and improved quality from future classes at MLC, now that we’ve got the ball rolling. Also I have mentioned your Awards to [a skeptical organization] in the USA and suggested that perhaps an international one following your model would be in order, since I’ve found this and the New Zealand oral presentation of a skeptical investigation to be particularly inspirational for schools.
(The last is similar to our Award except entrants give a talk rather than a written entry.)
If an English class of girls (as opposed to a science class of boys) can adopt our Awards with such enthusiasm, there seems little reason to doubt that other schools might follow suit once our Awards become better known. In the MLC’s case the teachers helped to point the students in the right direction by suggesting sources for reading and how to compile bibliographies (English Dept), and by suggesting graphing strategies and how to think critically (Science Dept). Ideas multiplied as the girls “pondered how to create a double-blind test, find a reasonable sample size, organize independent and dependent variables, and then whether they would be eligible for the James Randi Million Dollar prize if they actually found some truth in the claims”. After that the girls were on their own.
Well, no million dollars, but two entries by Kiless’s student’s won awards!
The two entries that achieved Awards were from students at the Methodist Ladies’ College in the metro area, so instead of mailing the Awards we presented them at a WA Skeptics meeting. Many students were on holiday, but three students, two parents, and Kylies Sturgess were able to attend, see later pictures.
The article goes on to report that the Skeptics meeting continued after the presentation, discussing the Award process with Kiless and exploring ways to make the Award more relevant to the classroom (that is, less an individual Award and more a teaching tool), with specific advice toward achieving that end. WA Skeptics seemed very excited by the prospect: “WA Skeptics will be following up on these leads. Watch this space.”
The article concludes with (abridged versions of) the students’ papers themselves, so that they not only have their Awards, but also their winning articles in print!
Good work, WA Skeptics, good work Kiless, and good work students!
(I debated putting this in the Education area, but this area gets more traffic, and this deserves attention.)
While some of us, myself included, argue on internet message boards about this scam artist, that faker, these snake-oil salesmen or those misguided researchers, Kiless has been out making a real difference in the real world. In the most recent edition of The Skeptic (Australia), the winners of the first Western Australia Skeptics Awards for Young Critical Writers were announced:
Aim: to encourage critical thinking and writing by students in Years 8-12 at WA secondary schools.
Topic: any curious belief or claim, not necessarily current or popular, but which is testable.
Philosophy: adult believers rarely embrace critical thinking, so we must reach young people before they get set in their ways.
Means: half a dozen brochures sent to each of the 96 largest WA secondary schools in metro and country areas (out of a total of 369), representing about 92,000 students or two-thirds of the total.
Details and a downloadable brochure were also posted on the skeptics website.
This was an inaugural program, so there was not a lot of response…but:
The most inspiring response to our Awards came from the Methodist Ladies’ College, a prestigious non-Governments school in suburban Perth, whose Year 10 English class used the Awards as part of a term devoted to skeptical and critical thinking. Teacher Kylie Sturgess told us:
It’s been a challenging and fun task for the class … and I hope that the experience will lead to more entries, a greater range of ages and improved quality from future classes at MLC, now that we’ve got the ball rolling. Also I have mentioned your Awards to [a skeptical organization] in the USA and suggested that perhaps an international one following your model would be in order, since I’ve found this and the New Zealand oral presentation of a skeptical investigation to be particularly inspirational for schools.
(The last is similar to our Award except entrants give a talk rather than a written entry.)
If an English class of girls (as opposed to a science class of boys) can adopt our Awards with such enthusiasm, there seems little reason to doubt that other schools might follow suit once our Awards become better known. In the MLC’s case the teachers helped to point the students in the right direction by suggesting sources for reading and how to compile bibliographies (English Dept), and by suggesting graphing strategies and how to think critically (Science Dept). Ideas multiplied as the girls “pondered how to create a double-blind test, find a reasonable sample size, organize independent and dependent variables, and then whether they would be eligible for the James Randi Million Dollar prize if they actually found some truth in the claims”. After that the girls were on their own.
Well, no million dollars, but two entries by Kiless’s student’s won awards!
The two entries that achieved Awards were from students at the Methodist Ladies’ College in the metro area, so instead of mailing the Awards we presented them at a WA Skeptics meeting. Many students were on holiday, but three students, two parents, and Kylies Sturgess were able to attend, see later pictures.
The article goes on to report that the Skeptics meeting continued after the presentation, discussing the Award process with Kiless and exploring ways to make the Award more relevant to the classroom (that is, less an individual Award and more a teaching tool), with specific advice toward achieving that end. WA Skeptics seemed very excited by the prospect: “WA Skeptics will be following up on these leads. Watch this space.”
The article concludes with (abridged versions of) the students’ papers themselves, so that they not only have their Awards, but also their winning articles in print!
Good work, WA Skeptics, good work Kiless, and good work students!
(I debated putting this in the Education area, but this area gets more traffic, and this deserves attention.)