The start of business...

     Beginning any new venture has its share of perils, but the biggest peril is not starting at all.  Starting  a new business in this economy is truly perilous.  Yet, even more perilous is the future we face when our students are ill-prepared to face the tasks of being responsible members of an increasingly technical society. It is my belief that a firm grasp of basic scientific principles is necessary to understand the challenges of todays society.

     STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education is highly publicized and often criticized. Many would agree that STEM education is the route to more innovation in technology. But many are critical of the cost, both in financial terms and in the work necessary to obtain a good education in general, and  science and math in particular.  Students find science and math to be difficult subjects that they cannot wait to leave behind. Why?

     That last sentence is fundamentally what science is all about.  Why?  Why do things happen?  At its most elemental, science is posing a question and then looking for the answer.  Because of this, children are natural scientists.  The typical question of "Why is the sky blue?" is the type of thing scientists do daily!  And yet these students who dislike science and math were once children themselves.  Where did that natural curiosity go?

I think that the natural questioning behavior of children is not often encouraged.  When we don't encourage questioning, we are setting the groundwork for dislike of science.  We need to let these children know early that they should question the world.  We need more scientifically inclined people to go into early education.  We need more collaboration between working scientists and educators at all levels.

     That is why I am working to launch EChemCLASS (Chemical Literacy And Study Skills), an e-tutoring venture.  The focus is on chemical education and chemical literacy because it is usually the most reviled subject in all of science.  The root cause of this hatred of chemistry, I believe, lies in its relation to all of science as a whole.  You need to know a little bit about all sciences in order to understand and appreciate chemistry for the wonderful, vast, complex, engaging, miraculous and sometimes smelly subject that it is.

     I also would like to teach and encourage study skills that are core to success in sciences, and are highly transferable skills to all subjects. Too often material is presented to students that lack the basic skills to use the information to the best of their abilities.  By showing strategies in study, problem solving, time management and language skills, the students become better equipped to use material presented to them, allowing internalization of knowledge.

     Please bear with me as I start this new venture.  I would like to reach the broadest of all possible audiences when I go live with EChemCLASS in January 2011.  Please feel free to email me or leave comments.  Thank you.