Resurrecting science education

The remarkable achievement of Aaron O'Connell in the first ever induction and measurement of the quantum effect at human scale brings to fore what is wrong with today's science – it is the systematization of science and engineering education by traditionalists. O'Connell's background, primarily in liberal arts and humanities helped him escape the exactness of scientific education – the one that produces mediocrity across the globe routinely. They start with Newtonian systems, and then graduate into the theory of relativity. Then they are taught to contrast their knowledge with the spooky world of quantum mechanics – as if this is the only way to learn. They specialize in one world or the other – some heading out to explain Physics through experiments and the other by exploration. They neatly segment observations into the micro and the macro – as if there is no need to connect them together. It is a lot easier to publish papers this way but that is not advancement of knowledge.



Systematization of education is the primary culprit in the decline of this generation and the next. Ironically, this problem is the highest in countries that proudly hold the raw statistics – number of graduates and the scores in standardized exams. What is ironic is that scores in standardized exams are not correlated with anything except the ability to take exams and the aptitude to excel in well structured education systems. The number of manufactured graduates does not mean anything – what is important is the creativity and the ability to think.



Graduate education in the US continues to lead the way for the rest of the world on this score. This is the only proven model and undergraduate and secondary education systems across the world (including the US) may want to rethink the status quo.