Who's Asking? by Douglas L Medin

Who's Asking? by Douglas L Medin

Analysis and case studies show that including different orientations toward the natural world makes for more effective scientific practice and science education.The answers to scientific questions depend on who's asking, because the questions asked and the answers sought reflect the cultural values and orientations of the questioner. These values and orientations are most often those of Western science. In Who's Asking?, Douglas Medin and Megan Bang argue that despite the widely held view that science is objective, value-neutral, and acultural, scientists do not shed their cultures at the laboratory or classroom door; their practices reflect their values, belief systems, and worldviews. Medin and Bang argue further that scientist diversity--the participation of researchers and educators with different cultural orientations--provides new perspectives and leads to more effective science and better science education.Medin and Bang compare Native American and European American orientations toward the natural world and apply these findings to science education. The European American model, they find, sees humans as separated from nature; the Native American model sees humans as part of a natural ecosystem. Medin and Bang then report on the development of ecologically oriented and community-based science education programs on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin and at the American Indian Center of Chicago. Medin and Bang's novel argument for scientist diversity also has important implications for questions of minority underrepresentation in science.

Timothy San Pedro is an associate professor of multicultural and equity studies in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780262026628
ISBN 10	0262026627
Title	Who's Asking?
Author	Douglas L Medin
Series	The Mit Press
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	MIT Press Ltd
Year published	2014-01-03
Number of pages	296
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.