Age of Inference: Cultivating a Scientific Mindset PDF
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Praise for Age of Inference: Cultivating a Scientific Mindset This volume takes on one of the thorniest existential problems of our time, the contradiction between the exponentially growing amount of information that indi- viduals have access to, and the diminished capacity of those individuals to under- stand it. Its chapters provide the reader with an introduction to the relationship between knowledge, science, and inference; needed new approaches to learning science in our new data rich world; and a discussion of what we can and must do to reduce or eliminate the growing gap between the inference have’s and have nots. It is not too much to say that how we resolve the issues outlined in this volume will determine the future of our species on this planet. —Joseph L. Graves Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences North Carolina A&T State University Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science: Biological Sciences Author of The Emperor’s New Clothes: Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium In Age of Inference: Cultivating a Scientific Mindset, the reader is immediately drawn into the need to prepare students and educators for utilizing massive and grow- ing amounts of data to solve human problems. The editors explore the human interface with robotic technologies embedded in our daily routines and ask us to consider where humankind will end up in the future, if we, as educators, are not prepared to cultivate the skills of scientific and logical reasoning in conjunction with society’s increasing reliance on artificial intelligence. The text is packed with reasoning-based applications and strategies for use with preservice teachers, in STEM teacher development, and would also offer a timely book study with super- intendents and campus-based leaders for addressing the complexities of human change that we face today. —Karen Embry Jenlink Emeritus Professor of Doctoral Studies Stephen F. Austin State University President, Association of Teacher Educators (2017–2018) World Federation Association of Teacher Educators, Board of Directors (2020–2023) Age of Inference is useful for science teachers and pre-service teachers who want to examine issues with scientific literacy in the public and develop strategies for utiliz- ing the vast quantities of data available to all citizens. Through the stories, experi- ences, and research-based methods shared by the authors, the reader recognizes the cruciality of cultivating a scientific mindset where not only knowing, but doing quality science in the classroom can produce citizens capable of scrutinizing and employing scientific information for personal and societal decision-making. —Jean Becherer Veteran Biology, Ecology, and Forensic Science Teacher Belleville East High School How do we know what we know and how can we use that knowledge to make well-informed decisions? How do we prepare students to tackle illustructured societal issues that simultaneously present too much information, yet almost always leave us with unanswered questions? Age of Inference interrogates these questions through historical, philosophical, and pedagogical lenses. Making meaning is infused throughout. Through reflective questions, readers delve more deeply into the material, consider its implications, and think about their own learning. —Bora Simmons Professor Emerita, Environmental Education & Teacher Education Northern Illinois University Director, National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education In our world and society of exponentially growing problems, we need a scientific mindset more than ever before. Big data is not enough for addressing dangers to the environment or tackling threats to democracy; we need the ability to draw sound inferences from the data. Knowledge alone is not enough; we also need critical reasoning. Cultivating a scientific mindset requires fundamental changes to the way we teach and learn. This important and well-written volume shows how. —Ashok Goel Professor of Computer Science & Human-Centered Computing Georgia Institute of Technology Editor of AI Magazine Founding Editor of AAAI’s Interactive AI Magazine If you are a science teacher concerned about the implications of information overload, analysis paralysis, and intellectual complacency on our health, economic future, and democracy, then I recommend this book. In a time of abundant information, fake news, and conspiracy theories, science as a way of thinking and knowing is critical for the new Inference Age. This book’s exploration of how we know including standards of evidence, practical application in the classroom, and speculation about the future is an important read for science educators. —Michael Svec Professor for Physics and Astronomy Education Furman University Fulbright Scholar to Czech Republic If you care deeply about science education and the public understanding of sci- ence, this book is for you! Important and timely, the editors have assembled an engaging set of essays that illuminate the role and significance of inference in science. Each chapter moves the reader forward to a deeper understanding of inference in accessing, conceptualizing, and applying scientific knowledge. As a collection, the book provides a compelling case for the Age of Inference as the next evolutionary step in public access to knowledge and challenges the reader to be a participant in promoting scientific knowledge ethically and responsibly in a climate of information overload. —Randy L. Bell Professor of Science Education & Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Oregon State University As opposed to those only purporting to focus on scientific thinking, this book truly does just that. The authors in three sections take up the notion of what it means to think in science versus thinking like a scientist and highlight the value in becom- ing a practitioner of science regardless of one’s ultimate profession. During pres- ent times, novices are making decisions in the vein of experts but are often not trained to do so. As the next generation of educators and science communicators contemplate their futures, Age of Inference: Cultivating a Scientific Mindset, provides a compelling case for the reconceptualization of individualized education through broad commentary and specific cases. With this, major challenges not only for students but also the public at large are discussed. Those trained in the sciences will recognize essential aspects of their training; aspects that are rarely featured in standard content-focused textbooks. Further, major issues such as confronting uncertainty and increasing diversity are broached. With helpful discussion ques- tions at the end of each chapter, this book can be used in a diversity of settings. In summary, Age of Inference: Cultivating a Scientific Mindset, moves beyond a consider- ation of developmental age, and treats the current period of human innovation as an age where information overload poses a fundamental problem that will take members of the education community and public to enact a sea change of how humans reason with information. —Rebecca Jordan Professor, Community Sustainability Michigan State University Published in 1667, the Saggi di naturali esperienze (Essays on Natural Experiments), was the one and only publication from one of the world’s earliest scientific acad- emies, Florence’s Accademia del Cimento (Academy of Experiment). This book reflected the Accademia’s crucial work in promoting rigorous experimentation and argumentation as the foundation of modern Galilean science. Today, given the rapid changes we see during the transition from the Information Age to the Inference Age, there is a need to reinvigorate our conversations around the place and practices of science and science education in contemporary societies. And in these turbulent times, the need for these conversations will only increase. This book is an important and timely addition to this work. My congratulations and thanks to the authors for their work and vision. —Wayne Melville Dean of the College of Education Lakehead University–Ontario Co-editor of the Journal of Science Teacher Education Inference is perhaps one of the most important concepts essential to teaching and learning in the discipline of science. Age of Inference: Cultivating a Scientific Mindset, edited by Philip Short, Harvey Henson, and John McConnell, brings together a col- lection of scholarly works on the importance of inference in science. Understanding how scientists make inferences, and in turn bringing inference to the foreground in science classrooms is extremely important to how students learn science. The contributing authors for this book are exceptional experts in their field and offer the reader a critically important insight into the essential nature and importance of inference. A higher-order skill, inference is a prerequisite for preparing students of science and the 21st century skills necessary to scientific understanding, research, and discovery. The contributing authors for the book have presented an important collective insight concerning inference and the use of evidence to answer important questions in the quest for scientific knowledge. —Patrick M. Jenlink Regents Professor Stephen F. Austin State University Age of Inference offers multiple disciplinary perspectives that are showcased in a space for reader exploration. Connections engage the reader with content, con- cepts, and educationally “what could be on the horizon.” It sparked new questions and prompted me to contemplate possibilities for moving forward with integrated and interdisciplinary functionality. —Andrea Burrows Professor Secondary Science Teacher Education Associate Dean for the College of Education University of Wyoming Age of Inference Age of Inference Cultivating a Scientific Mindset edited by Philip C. Short Austin Peay State University Harvey Henson Southern Illinois University Carbondale John R. McConnell Austin Peay State University INFORMATION AGE PUBLISHING, INC. Charlotte, NC • www.infoagepub.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov ISBN: 978-1-64802-797-0 (Paperback) 978-1-64802-798-7 (Hardcover) 978-1-64802-799-4 (E-Book) Copyright © 2022 Information Age Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS Foreword ...............................................................................................ix Miranda Feliciano Tyson Acknowledgments and Dedication .....................................................xi SECTION I INTRODUCTION: THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE, SCIENCE, AND INFERENCE 1 The Age of Inference ............................................................................3 John R. McConnell, Sarah B. Dugger, and Philip C. Short 2 Nature of the Scientific Enterprise ....................................................17 Harvey Henson 3 The Nature of Science Education: Relativity of Theory ...................39 Philip C. Short 4 Mathematics: Language, Modeling, and Comparison Assisting Inference ..............................................................................59 Mary Barone Martin, Tammy Jones, Dovie Kimmins, and Teresa Schmidt v
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