Nobelist Lederman on State of Science Education

Leon Lederman, Nobel prize-winning high-energy physicist, director emeritus of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and founder and chairman of the Teachers Academy for Mathematics and Science, discussed the current state of science and math education in the United States in the Peter wallenberg learning Theater on Thursday April 17.

Dr. Lederman, who holds an appointment as Pritzker Professor of Science at Illinois Institute of Technology, suggested that the sequence of science classes in high school--biology, then chemistry, then physics--which was instituted at the end of the 19th Century, may not be the most effective way to develop in students an understanding of science. Dr. Lederman also discussed the value of training students to think "scientifically" and to recognize that the "walls" between the disciplines of biology and chemistry and physics are more "permeable" than students might recognize because of the scope and sequence as it's currently taught.

Please check back in mid-May to view a video of Dr. Lederman's lecture.

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