GOOD – Katie Wudel
“Last fall, the New York Academy of Scientists, together with the United Nations and a veritable who’s who of socially responsible corporations, collectively wrung their hands about the global shortage of science professionals. The STEM crisis may or may not be a myth, but one thing’s for certain: The way science is often taught these days does the field no favors. “Kids think science is boring,” says Gerald Richards, CEO of 826 National…“Science is all about inquiry, but it’s also about being creative.”…This under-discussed link between creativity, scientific inquiry, and functional literacy has long fascinated Pam Garza, STEM Project Director at YMCA…“From figuring out which dishwasher to buy to how to vote for a new initiative, we need to be just as literate in science as we do in reading and writing,” she says. The goal of a successful education is to produce adults capable of critical thinking—and that’s what scientific inquiry is all about.”(more)