Team:UT-Dallas/Human-Practices

the Humanities

Sociology

Richard Scotch is a Professor of Sociology, Public Policy, and Political Economy at the University of Texas at Dallas. His most recent research focuses on healthcare access and disabilities. Amongst other appointments, he has served as a consultant for the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, as well as a Congressional Science Fellow.
We began our quest by asking why healthcare quality and access to technology did not reflect the rate at which new discoveries were being made. Why are the benefits of science and engineering distributed inequitably?
There is a certain degree of overlap between the groups that lack reliable healthcare access and those that traditionally have a lesser representation in science. In particular, certain racial minorities, women, and disabled persons tend to be amongst those most often shunned by the healthcare and educational systems. We asked Dr. Richard Scotch if, in solving one of these problems, we might be able to kill two birds with one stone.
While a great deal of the problem lies in the complicated realm of insurance law and broader economic problems, one of the many contributing factors lies in a communicative disconnect between science and minorities. This gap may exist for many different reasons—socioeconomic standing, cultural belief, and educational background, to name a few. Changing the way we teach science might improve the situation—in an increasingly diverse environment, it is important for teachers to make science applicable to a broader set of students. One of the ways to do this is to teach in a way that centers around the student, rather than a teacher lecturing at the front of a classroom. Encouraging class discussions and question-answer sessions is a tactic that has worked well for the humanities.
However, Scotch says, part of the problem comes from the scientific community. There seems to be a common belief within the scientific community that it is not very important for scientists and engineers to be able to communicate effectively outside of the professional environment. This is simply not true. Part of the solution, he says, may be as simple as having an open dialogue with your neighbors or colleagues. If scientists and engineers can, on even a personal level, maintain an open dialogue with people in other fields, science will inevitably become a larger part of everyday life. This is one of the many goals of this project.

Political Science

Dr. Douglas Dow is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Dallas, as well as the codirector of the Honors College. He specializes in political theory, public law, legal theory and history, and American politics.

Policy does not always reflect the current body of scientific knowledge. Part of the problem arises from the fact that the information that the scientific community brings to the table does not always align with the goals of policy makers and economists. ‘The state of North Carolina, for example, had recently elected to simply disallow the use of current and projected sea level data in political cost benefit analysis [regarding development of the coast],’ says Dr. Douglas Dow, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas, ‘This would clearly create some conflicts.’

Nevertheless, scientists are far from mute in political sphere. ‘Scientists actually have a major place… in the public policy making process,’ says Dow. Policy makers frequently rely upon science to inform their policy decisions. Selective acceptance of scientific theory, however, seems to be a significant cause of the gap between policy and science—suggesting some sort of broader incompatibility between the two fields. Part of problem, Dow explained, is due to certain fundamental differences in the way that the humanities and the sciences are taught to communicate information. ‘Science is about probability,’ he says, ‘it’s not about an absolute yes or no. That makes for hypotheses that can sometimes be complicated to understand.’ These complicated topics, coupled with a lack of absolute certainty, can be easily manipulated and over simplified—often, just by accident.
It is not enough to simply teach science with the goal of graduating more STEM specialists. The rift between policy and science at hand calls for a more complete integration of science and the humanities, combining the best facets of each academic tradition. To better understand how we might accomplish this, we turned next to Master Teacher and science educator Dr. James McConnell.

Science And Engineering

Shayan Ghassemi, Eric Nezerwa and Taplin Moore are students and researchers in the University of Texas at Dallas bioengineering department.

Bioengineering and Society

Regardless of how much time we spend sequestered in the lab, scientists and engineers do not exist within an isolated bubble. Though a scientist's primary objective is the pursuit of knowledge, dissemination and application of this knowledge is also a concern. Engineers, though they share many similarities with scientists, have a distinctly different set of goals. Engineers aim to develop and utilize knowledge into novel applications. Bioengineers exist at a nexus between these two fields, and as such, very successfully accomplishes one of the main goals of this project: the insulation of the transfer of knowledge. Knowledge disseminates along very different pathways: from the lab to the classroom, or to the courtroom, congressional floor, hospital, or industry. As links along that chain, we are partly responsible for maintaining the connections that link knowledge to application. The link between engineers and scientists is very strong, and understandably so- the connection between the fields seems fluid and obvious. We need, however, to strengthen the rest of the chain-- and bioengineers have significant incentive to accomplish this.

Broader Applications and Future Pathways

It is clear why researchers (or anybody) should care about what goes on in the K-12 classroom. Though few would oppose increased involvement in education, many potentially willing volunteers are hazy on the logistics. Without a larger organizing body, the potential for interaction between the classroom and the lab lessens significantly. This task may fit nicely into the realm of the many professional organizations that already bring together scientists and engineers from around the globe. These organizations have the resources, member base, and credibility to facilitate effective and meaningful interactions between the scientist and the student. Gaining the support of these organizations would be a major step in implementing a broader solution in the future.