I find it difficult to make students appreciate the pioneering scientists.
To go far back, it must have taken unimaginable courage for that first human to have taken fire from some source and use it. He or she would have to overcome a great instinctive fear to do that.
When I teach the course titled "Science and civilisation", I try to make them imagine what that must have been like-- the extraordinary courage of such unnamed, unknown individuals --and to appreciate what they have done for the human race. Maybe some students do.
But when it comes to chemistry, I don't think I do a good job at that.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Friday, 4 March 2011
microfinance
Why is microfinance suddenly in the news for the wrong reasons?
First it was the suicides in AP and now the Grameen Bank and its tussle with the Bangla Desh govt.
Apart from the problems created by the collection methods, finance to SHGs is being attacked with the contention that it has social repurcussions-- one woman says that since she could not pay back her loan on time, her relationship with her group members is strained. That's serious in a village. There is the contention that some people take microfinance and buy themselves luxury goods instead of using it to start some enterprise. They are then not earning enough to repay. This leads to mounting debt and suicide.
There is the AP court ruling ordering regulation of these MFI.
However, how has Ela Bhatt managed her SEWA for so many years, growing to great heights without any such controversy?
It is difficult to know what is hype and what is true about the current crop of MFI.
First it was the suicides in AP and now the Grameen Bank and its tussle with the Bangla Desh govt.
Apart from the problems created by the collection methods, finance to SHGs is being attacked with the contention that it has social repurcussions-- one woman says that since she could not pay back her loan on time, her relationship with her group members is strained. That's serious in a village. There is the contention that some people take microfinance and buy themselves luxury goods instead of using it to start some enterprise. They are then not earning enough to repay. This leads to mounting debt and suicide.
There is the AP court ruling ordering regulation of these MFI.
However, how has Ela Bhatt managed her SEWA for so many years, growing to great heights without any such controversy?
It is difficult to know what is hype and what is true about the current crop of MFI.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Kids' prayers
A link
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=1636447999119&comments
I liked the efficiency advice the best-- why kill people and then make new ones?
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=1636447999119&comments
I liked the efficiency advice the best-- why kill people and then make new ones?
A rehash
This is a copy paste of an early post in this blog. What I have said re BSc also holds for economics, sociology etc.
When I see some of the boys and girls who go to various colleges, I wonder why they are there. It is obvious that they are not interested. They do not wish to learn whatever is taught to them. They just want the degree. They do not attend classes, give fake medical certificates and just a week before the exams, buy themselves a guide book, memorise a few answers and pass the exams. Why should they waste time and money doing this? I seriously believe a BSc or BA is for those who wish to learn something. But societal compulsions makes it imperative for everyone to get a degree. To enable such students to pass, our exams are also tailored to this mode of "study".
So I suggest, in every subject, there should be two streams-- One catering to the guide book types and another that provides an in-depth knowledge of the subject. You get your degree by passing anyone, but if you pass the second option, you get an honours degree. The honours degree should have stringent attendance requirements, lab requirements, and the questions in the examinations should test the analytical abilities, language skill and general awareness of the student.
Another alternative is to bring technical education (like ITI and polytechnics) into the mainstream. You can get a BSc in electrical works or a BA in office management. A BSc in horticulture can set you up as a high end garden landscaping consultant and a BSc in wood technology can setup a carpentery and interior design company. This reduces the pressure on everyone to "do" science. They get a BSc degree anyway. The BSc science programs will then cater to students who want to study Physics/ Chemistry/ Biochemistry etc. Then we can make the science courses truly rigorous.
Until this pressure of everyone needing to get a BSc is reduced, there is no hope for undergraduate science education in India.
When I see some of the boys and girls who go to various colleges, I wonder why they are there. It is obvious that they are not interested. They do not wish to learn whatever is taught to them. They just want the degree. They do not attend classes, give fake medical certificates and just a week before the exams, buy themselves a guide book, memorise a few answers and pass the exams. Why should they waste time and money doing this? I seriously believe a BSc or BA is for those who wish to learn something. But societal compulsions makes it imperative for everyone to get a degree. To enable such students to pass, our exams are also tailored to this mode of "study".
So I suggest, in every subject, there should be two streams-- One catering to the guide book types and another that provides an in-depth knowledge of the subject. You get your degree by passing anyone, but if you pass the second option, you get an honours degree. The honours degree should have stringent attendance requirements, lab requirements, and the questions in the examinations should test the analytical abilities, language skill and general awareness of the student.
Another alternative is to bring technical education (like ITI and polytechnics) into the mainstream. You can get a BSc in electrical works or a BA in office management. A BSc in horticulture can set you up as a high end garden landscaping consultant and a BSc in wood technology can setup a carpentery and interior design company. This reduces the pressure on everyone to "do" science. They get a BSc degree anyway. The BSc science programs will then cater to students who want to study Physics/ Chemistry/ Biochemistry etc. Then we can make the science courses truly rigorous.
Until this pressure of everyone needing to get a BSc is reduced, there is no hope for undergraduate science education in India.
Fragility of children
Nowadays, children are mentally fragile. Why?
I know I looked after my children with much greater care and attention to detail than my mother did for me and my brothers and she did more than her mother did. The young mothers I meet now do even more than I did.
But is this fine tuned attention making them too sensitive?
Children commit suicide if their parents say they cannot give them money to buy something fancy or if parents scold them for not studying...minor things. It is scary.
Maybe a bit of healthy neglect is good for the kids.
I know I looked after my children with much greater care and attention to detail than my mother did for me and my brothers and she did more than her mother did. The young mothers I meet now do even more than I did.
But is this fine tuned attention making them too sensitive?
Children commit suicide if their parents say they cannot give them money to buy something fancy or if parents scold them for not studying...minor things. It is scary.
Maybe a bit of healthy neglect is good for the kids.
in praise of not praising indiscriminately
I had posted earlier about praising children excessively. Here's some research on this.
It does not talk about the quantum of praise, but on what you praise. I totally agree that praise should be for the genuine effort made by and the sincerity of the child rather than on the outcome.
In life, outcome is not always proportional to effort and diligence. A child must grow up to value herself highly if she has done her best, no matter what the outcome.
However, self worth is quite ephemeral. I do not think it is fair to put all the responsibilty on parents. My childhood was peppered with stories of boys who studied under the street light and suffered neglect but rose to be great men. These boys had no praise, some of them had to live on charity....each day of the week, they would be fed in different households. No one told them they were great. Self worth is a much less cause-effect phenomenon and perhaps comes from something within us.
It does not talk about the quantum of praise, but on what you praise. I totally agree that praise should be for the genuine effort made by and the sincerity of the child rather than on the outcome.
In life, outcome is not always proportional to effort and diligence. A child must grow up to value herself highly if she has done her best, no matter what the outcome.
However, self worth is quite ephemeral. I do not think it is fair to put all the responsibilty on parents. My childhood was peppered with stories of boys who studied under the street light and suffered neglect but rose to be great men. These boys had no praise, some of them had to live on charity....each day of the week, they would be fed in different households. No one told them they were great. Self worth is a much less cause-effect phenomenon and perhaps comes from something within us.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
GM foods
"Genetically engineered organisms can combine with naturally engineered human bodies in bizarre, unexpected and tragic ways. We may have started to come to terms with the synthetic modification of life, but we still have a long way to go before we understand how the different parts of the natural and artificial worlds dynamically interact with each other in ways that we cannot anticipate. There's miles to go before we can sleep."
This is the reason why GM foods need far more testing than they have received. I can understand that Monsanto doesn't think that way, but that biologists don't understand this, I can't believe-- then why do so many of them swear by GM foods? There are other ways of increasing food production which can be explored-- vertical farms for one!
This is the reason why GM foods need far more testing than they have received. I can understand that Monsanto doesn't think that way, but that biologists don't understand this, I can't believe-- then why do so many of them swear by GM foods? There are other ways of increasing food production which can be explored-- vertical farms for one!
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