Science is the result of man!s quest to understand the nature and the world around him. The method of scientific investigation has been perfected and applied so much to study things around us that our scientific knowledge expanding at the rate of several tens of thousands of printed pages every day. This increase in knowledge has affected all the areas of our life, so that today all the spheres of our lives come in touch with science in some way or other.
Parents prefer to send students to science courses in schools and colleges. Synthetic clothes have become so cheap that in most cases it is a luxury these days to wear cotton dresses. Television, radio, medicine, and means of transportation are becoming more readily available even to the middle-class families. So the awareness is growing silently that all the technically marvels of today are the result of scientific researches. By implications, science represents knowledge and truth. In fact, these marvels of scientific breakthrough combined with the present education system are giving the impression to people that scientific investigation is the only legitimate method to learn about the realities around us. Evolutionists and rationalists have used this popular notion to attack the Bible.
Since educated people already have this notion that scientific investigation is the only way to investigate truths around it, it is easy to influence them in the name of science. This has been done repeatedly by all sorts of critics who demand that everything in Bible should be subjected to scientific investigation, it is not to be believed. This claim that not everything in the Bible can be verified by scientific tests. This realization produces a great conflict in the hearts of young people everywhere, and therefore we should definitely discuss the whole subject. In fact the present day Christian society is full of people who will be greatly helped if someone is willing to discuss the whole issue.
There is no shortage of people who feel that all such discussion is futile because once faith is established and once a person becomes spiritually mature, he is no longer disturbed by these questions. There is no doubt that once a person becomes spiritually mature, many things which previously troubled him cease to do so, but this is not the real issue here. What the spiritually mature people have to understand and appreciate is that unless someone helps these people in doubt, they might never grow to a stage where they might become mature. The nagging doubts which they are facing presently might completely distort and destroy their faith.
A problem never looks too serious or threatening to one unless he himself is facing it. So a person who has never faced a problem related to science versus faith will never be able to appreciate the trauma of someone who is facing it presently. So, instead of minimizing or understanding some problems which one has never faced, or which one is not likely to face, it will be much better if all the available energy is focused on solving the problems of those who are actually facing them.
There are others who dismiss the whole problem because of their fear. Discussing science and its relationship with the Scripture is not an easy task. It might require the knowledge of numerous fields of study. So out of fear of falling in the tough task, many people simply run away; they just claim that this is all an unnecessary and unfruitful exercise. But this is not the Christian spirit. Truth can always stand before any trail, the only care to be taken is to see that the trial is fair and objective. A spirit of genuine enquiry should prevail instead of a spirit of reaction or of preconception.
Every reader of this article can remain assured that Christian men of learning and scholarship are not silent on the face of criticism directed against the Scriptures. In fact there are numerous societies and organizations throughout the world who are are trying to study and refute the attacks directed against the Bible. As a result, anyone can get a whole library full books which examine all aspects of the problems. Christians have nothing to loose in discussing problems related to science versus faith. On the contrary, the whole exercise will only strengthen the faith of the genuine enquirer.
By: Dr. Johnson C. Philip
Posts Tagged ‘Education System’
Bible Versus Science: What Should be Out Attitude?
November 7th, 2009The Science Education Belief In America
September 3rd, 2009Political leaders, tech executives, and academics often claim that the U.S. is falling behind in math and science education. They cite poor test results, declining international rankings, and decreasing enrollment in the hard sciences. They urge us to improve our education system and to graduate more engineers and scientists to keep pace with countries such as India and China.
Yet a new report by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, tells a different story. The report disproves many confident pronouncements about the alleged weaknesses and failures of the U.S. education system. This data will certainly be examined by both sides in the debate over highly skilled workers and immigration. The argument by Microsoft, Google, Intel, and others is that there are not enough tech workers in the U.S.
The authors of the report, the Urban Institute’s Hal Salzman and Georgetown University professor Lindsay Lowell, show that math, science, and reading test scores at the primary and secondary level have increased over the past two decades, and U.S. students are now close to the top of international rankings. Perhaps just as surprising, the report finds that our education system actually produces more science and engineering graduates than the market demands.
These findings go against what has been the dominant position about our education system and our science and engineering workforce. Consider reports on national competitiveness that policymakers often turn to, such reports as the 2005 “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” by the National Academy of Sciences. This report says the U.S. is in dire straits because of poor math and science preparation.
The report points to declining test scores, fewer students taking math and science courses, and low-quality curriculums and teacher preparation in K-12 education compared to other countries.
The call has been taken up by some of the most prominent people in business and politics. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, said at an education summit in 2005, “In the international competition to have the biggest and best supply of knowledge workers, America is falling behind.” President George W. Bush addressed the issue in his 2006 State of the Union address. “We need to encourage children to take more math and science, and to make sure those courses are rigorous enough to compete with other nations,” he said.
Salzman and Lowell found the reverse was true. Their report shows U.S. student performance has steadily improved over time in math, science, and reading. It also found enrollment in math and science courses is actually up. For example, in 1982 high school graduates earned 2.6 math credits and 2.2 science credits on average.
By 1998, the average number of credits increased to 3.5 math and 3.2 science credits. The percent of students taking chemistry increased from 45% in 1990 to 55% in 1996 and 60% in 2004. Scores in national tests such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the SAT, and the ACT have also shown increases in math scores over the past two decades.
And the new report again went against the grain when it compared the U.S. to other countries. It found that over the past decade the U.S. has ranked a consistent second place in science. It also was far ahead of other nations in reading and literacy and other academic areas. In fact, the report found that the U.S. is one of only a few nations that has consistently shown improvement over time.
Why the sharp discrepancy? Salzman says that reports citing low U.S. international rankings often misinterpret the data. Review of the international rankings, which he says are all based on one of two tests, the Trends in International Mathematics & Science Study (TIMMS) or the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), show the U.S. is in a second-ranked group, not trailing the leading economies of the world as is commonly reported.
In fact, the few countries that place higher than the U.S. are generally small nations, and few of these rank consistently high across all grades, subjects, and years tested. Moreover, he says, serious methodological flaws, such as different test populations, and other limitations preclude drawing any meaningful comparison of school systems between countries.
As far as our workforce is concerned, the new report showed that from 1985 to 2000 about 435,000 U.S. citizens and permanent residents a year graduated with bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in science and engineering. Over the same period, there were about 150,000 jobs added annually to the science and engineering workforce.
These numbers don’t include those retiring or leaving a profession but do indicate the size of the available talent pool. It seems that nearly two-thirds of bachelor’s graduates and about a third of master’s graduates take jobs in fields other than science and engineering.
Michael Teitelbaum, vice-president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which, among other things, works to improve science education, says this research highlights the troubling weaknesses in many conventional policy prescriptions.
Proposals to increase the supply of scientists and engineers rapidly, without any objective evidence of comparably rapid growth in attractive career opportunities for such professionals, might actually be doing harm.
In previous columns, I have written about research my team at Duke University completed that shattered common myths about India and China graduating 12 times as many engineers as the U.S. We found that the U.S. graduated comparable numbers and was far ahead in quality. Our research also showed there were no engineer shortages in the U.S., and companies weren’t going offshore because of any deficiencies in U.S. workers.
So, there isn’t a lack of interest in science and engineering in the U.S., or a deficiency in the supply of engineers. However, there may sometimes be short-term shortages of engineers with specific technical skills in certain industry segments or in various parts of the country.
The National Science Foundation data show that of the students who graduated from 1993 to 2001, 20% of the bachelor’s holders went on to complete master’s degrees in fields other than science and engineering and an additional 45% were working in other fields. Of those who completed master’s degrees, 7% continued their education and 31% were working in fields other than science and engineering.
There isn’t a problem with the capability of U.S. children. Even if there were a deficiency in math and science education, there are so many graduates today that there would be enough who are above average and fully qualified for the relatively small number of science and engineering jobs. Science and engineering graduates just don’t see enough opportunity in these professions to continue further study or to take employment.
With U.S. competitiveness at stake, we need to get our priorities straight. Education is really important, and a well-educated workforce is what will help the U.S. keep its global edge. But emphasizing math and science education over humanities and social sciences may not be the best prescription for the U.S. We need our children to receive a balanced and broad education.
Perhaps we should focus on creating demand for the many scientists and engineers we graduate. There are many problems, from global warming to the development of alternative fuels to cures for infectious diseases, that need to be solved. Rather than blaming our schools, let’s create exciting national programs that motivate our children to help solve these problems.
By: Alisha Dhamani
