Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

Karl Popper proposed falsification as the criterion to distinguish science from pseudoscience. Unlike positivists, he denied that scientists seek to confirm theories; genuine science seeks to refute hypotheses.

I’ve come to enjoy the reaction of adults (including teachers, principals, etc., parents, business people...) who learn the purpose of public education is not to create people just like them. #edchat #education #school

Your assumptions are directly associated with your misunderstandings.

Every time I read a new treatment of “formative and summative assessment,” I become more convinced these are difficult to use and ineffective. #education #teaching

The students may not be able to see the thing I want to answer, or the subtleties I want to think about, but they remind me of a problem by asking questions in the neighborhood of that problem. It’s not so easy to remind yourself of these things. - Richard Feynman #students

AI Literate or ID Idiot. A blog post motivated by a student.
https://hackscience.education/2025/05/06/ai-literate-or-ai-idiot/

We are bombarded with too much [information] in our inordinately complex world; if we cannot sort the trivial from the profound,we are lost in terminal overload. -Stephen Jay Gould

Stasis is the norm for complex systems; change, when provoked at all, is usually rapid and episodic. -Stephen Jay Gould

Yeah, so the Earth may (surely will) survive human hubris... humans, not so much. #wisdom from #science

“The true beauty of nature is her amplitude; she neither exists for nor because of us....” -Stephen Jay Gould #wisdom from #scientist #biology This is why we study #science, without it we cannot gain such insight.

Absolute standards of performance is a poor way to evaluate capacity for competition in biological systems. I wonder why we insist they are appropriate for educational systems.

Why are insects largely absent from marine ecosystems (compared to terrestrial ecosystems)? That is a question worth study. #biology #STEM #Science

#edtech used exclusively for improving our ability to teach to and administer tests must be discarded.

#Schools in which #leaders and #teachers believe they should tell #students what they should learn demonstrate they misunderstand the role of curiosity in #learning.

The reason #students see no connection between #school and their goals may be they have no goals. Perhaps part of our job as #educators is to help them develop goals, directions, and interests.

Learning *within* a field is far more effective than learning *about* a field. #education #teaching

Human social interactions depend on several complex brain functions. These include the ability to perceive subtle social signals, recognize patterns in behavior, construct and recall complex ideas, and control actions in response to these perceptions and understandings.

Most social interaction in primates is associated with increased activity in the neocortex. The neocortex is the outermost layer of the cerebrum and is involved in many complex cognitive functions, including those necessary for navigating social environments.

Social Brain Hypothesis: The theory that social factors are the primary driver of brain evolution, particularly in primates.

Ecological Brain Hypothesis: The theory that ecological factors are the primary driver of brain evolution.

Social Brian Hypothesis seems more important in human evolution.

Correlation: A statistical relationship between two or more variables that does not necessarily imply causation.

Some #datadriven folks seem to ignore this.