Engineer's view of science education

Technical Report · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:6263843

George, D A

Science education in our schools is a vital part of the preparation for the study and practice of engineering. It is also from the science taught in school that the attitudes of the general public to science, engineering and technology are formed and these attitudes, in turn, have a direct effect on public policies. This paper focuses on these two aspects of science education in presenting an engineering viewpoint (or at least one engineer's viewpoint) of contemporary science education in Canadian schools. The writer is both a practising engineer and an educator. Canada's wealth of physical resources has allowed us to live well in one of the world's most developed countries. But we do not develop our own land; rather, we rely on others to exploit our resources and we are paid a fee for our acquiescence. We benefit in this way from the world's technology and science, and devote our energies to other pursuits; we seem almost deliberately to atrophy our indigenous technological resources. Science education in Canada plays a special role in this policy of perpetual underdevelopment.

• Research Organization: Science Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
• OSTI ID: 6263843
• Report Number(s): NP-2900461; ON: DE82900461
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990000* -- General & Miscellaneous
CANADA
EDUCATION
ENGINEERING
NORTH AMERICA