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BL
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| Record Number
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865522
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| Main Entry
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Ganem, Joseph
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| Title & Author
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The Robot Factory : : Pseudoscience in Education and Its Threat to American Democracy /\ Joseph Ganem.
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| Publication Statement
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Cham, Switzerland :: Springer,, [2018]
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, ©2018
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| Page. NO
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1 online resource (xxvii, 255 pages)
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| ISBN
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3319778609
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: 9783319778600
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3319778595
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9783319778594
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| Bibliographies/Indexes
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Includes bibliographical references and index.
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| Contents
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Intro; Dedication; Preface; Organization of The Robot Factory; My Fundamental Beliefs; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Why I Would Fail Third Grade Math; A Multitude of Problems in One Brief Lesson; Contents; Part I: Pseudoscience in Education; 1: What Science Is and Is Not; Doing Real Science: Essential Elements; The Magical Thinking Behind Pseudoscience; References; 2: Data-Driven Education Reform: A New Pseudoscience; The "Mathematical Intimidation" of Teachers; Over-Fitting Data: Value-Added Models for Teacher Effectiveness; The "Effective Teacher" Tautology.
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Science is an Iterative ProcessScience as a Guide; Debunking Pseudoscience; Deliberately Distorting Science; Science as a Verb; Addressing the Growing Gender Gap in Education; The Limits of Science; The Creationist and Anthropic Tautologies; Future Theories; Having it Both Ways; References; Part III: The Threat to American Democracy; 6: False Choice: Pseudoscientific Narrative; The Dark Side of Storytelling; Reframing Stories; False Choices for Financing Education; Aftermaths; Schools Are Not Cultural Islands; Grading Politicians; A New Genre of Comedy.
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Teachers Are Real Human Beings (Not Idealized Fantasy People)Standardized Teaching Evaluation Systems; Impossible Expectations = Teacher Shortages; Hiring Foreign Teachers to Cope with Shortages; Aftermaths; Across Time and Space: The Complex Web of Human Relatedness; References; Part II: Misunderstanding Math and Science Education; 4: Why Our Kids Don't Get Math; The Widening Gap Between High School and College Math; Bizarre Math Expectations; Three Problems with K-12 Math Curricula; Students Learn Mimicry Instead of Math.
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The Disconnect Between the Math Curriculum and Professional PractitionersChess as Example; Expertise; Making Math Relevant: Assessing Reading Comprehension or Math?; Vans for a Field Trip; Three Friends' Beads; Proportion of Instruments; The Need for Quantitative Literacy; The "Chinese Room"; References; 5: Misunderstanding Science Education; Why Science Is Hard; Science as a Noun; Science; Noun; The Kansas State Board of Education's Redefinition of Science; The Difference Between a Hypothesis and a Theory; Nature is Eternal and Unchanging; Science as a Question; Science as a Conversation.
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The Statistical Impossibility of Adequate Yearly Progress in SchoolsFailure to Address Causality: Not Asking Why Schools Are "Failing"; Data Manipulation: Teaching to the Test; Data Manipulation: The Accountability Hoax; The SAT: Promoting Equal Opportunity or Perpetuating a Hierarchy?; Data Manipulation: The Murky Business of Quantifying Prestige; Assessing Colleges: Self-Selected Data; Facts Versus Stories; References; 3: The Complexity Myth: The Opposite of Science; The Quest for the Perfect Teacher; The Teacher-Student Relationship; Teaching in Diverse Urban Schools.
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| Abstract
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"This book exposes a disturbing misuse of the scientific method to advance policies and agendas that are in fact detrimental to both science and education. The author, a physics professor, examines two related trends in education - the practice of "data-driven" reform and the disparaging of the traditional liberal arts in favor of programs with a heavy emphasis on science and technology. Many of the reforms being foisted on educators have more in common with pseudo-science than real science. The reduction of education to a commodity, and the shilling of science as a means to enhance corporate profits, lead to an impoverished and stunted understanding of science in particular, and of education in general. How is it possible for: " schools with all students learning at grade-level to be rated as failing?" teachers to be rated as ineffective after all their students meet their learning outcomes?" rising grade-school math standards to result in more college students needing remedial math?" politicians to disparage scientists and their results but argue that more students should study science?These bizarre outcomes have happened and are the result of an education system that misuses and misrepresents math and science in the classroom and in crafting education policies. This book exposes the flawed and fallacious thinking that is damaging education at all levels throughout the United States, and makes a compelling case for rethinking the standardized, optimized, and quantified approaches in vogue in education today to accommodate the different needs of individual teachers and students."--
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| Subject
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Education-- Political aspects-- United States.
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Science-- Study and teaching-- United States.
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Advice on parenting.
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Central government policies.
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EDUCATION-- Administration-- General.
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EDUCATION-- Educational Policy Reform-- General.
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Education-- Political aspects.
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Examinations assessment.
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Science-- Study and teaching.
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Teaching of a specific subject.
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| Subject
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United States.
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| Dewey Classification
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379.73
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| LC Classification
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LC89
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