Tag Archives: natural sciences

TOK Book Review: The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake.

Posted on November 19, 2018 | 1 comment

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(Eileen Dombrowski from OUP blog) Published just last month, this book stands out as an excellent resource on critical thinking for teachers of Theory of Knowledge.  Do you already know neurologist and science educator Steven Novella? You may, like me, already be a fan of his keen analysis, clarity, and skill of combining vast knowledge with a light touch.  He’s now pulled together threads of critical commentary into a book I recommend most highly: The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake. Continue reading →

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Engaging TOK with the world…but softly

Posted on November 5, 2018 | Leave a comment

(by Eileen Dombrowski, from OUP blog) This week, I want to add a couple of ideas, just lightly, to what I said last week. I was presenting an argument back then, feeling the urgency of TOK’s goal to engage critically with the world. In a more mellow mood today, I’m recommending much “softer” class materials, with a gentler touch that leaves educational goals implied.

After all, students surely learn more than we teach. Along with our explicit messages – the focused questions, the concepts we’re developing, the analytical tools we’re practising – we’re also communicating attitudes and values. We don’t have to spell out everything. By choosing materials and focusing examples with a bit of resonance, we can teach indirectly, giving support to both TOK and the broader IB. Continue reading →

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“Stay cool. TOK teachers can handle this.” Astrology & belief.

Posted on August 14, 2018 | Leave a comment

180813 horoscope(Eileen Dombrowski from OUP blog) Are we on “the path back into darkness, tribalism, feudalism, superstition, and belief in magic”?  The apparent upsurge of belief in astrology has sent one of my favourite bloggers and podcasters, neurologist and skeptic Steven Novella, into a paroxysm of sheer frustration. How can anything so thoroughly debunked as astrology make inroads back into public belief?  But – stay cool, Steven! This is a job for Theory of Knowledge teachers!  It seems to me we’re in a perfect spot to raise questions about astrology – not with earnest annoyance but with humour and a light heart. Continue reading →

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A TOK class for exam month: mathematics, nature, art, technology…and peaceful contemplation of beauty

Posted on May 14, 2018 | Leave a comment

(by Eileen Dombrowski, from OUP blog) May in the northern hemisphere.  The return of long daylight.  But also IB exams. Tired students. Tired teachers. Time to take a class into the calm and beauty of pattern, with gentle TOK reflection on the deep intersections of mathematics, nature, art and technology. This year, my favourite vehicle is the animated sculpture of John Edmark, especially with the video “Creating the Never-Ending Bloom” in which the designer is commenting on his work. Continue reading →

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“How am I supposed to appreciate it?” Art, science, and some silly assumptions

Posted on January 29, 2018 | 1 comment

(by Eileen and Theo Dombrowski, from OUP blog) Do we expect to understand art and the natural sciences in the same way?  Today, here’s a 5-drawing cartoon sequence to open a comparison in class discussion, with class-ready questions and a download at the end. I hope it gives you not only material for thought but also a smile.

“How am I supposed to appreciate it?” cartoon sequence by Theo Dombrowski

art sc 1 Continue reading →

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Do Nobel prizes distort public understanding of scientific knowledge?

Posted on November 7, 2017 | Leave a comment

171106 nobel-prize(Eileen Dombrowski from OUP blog) “Absurd.” “Archaic.” These are surely not descriptions most of us would apply to the world’s most celebrated prize in science. The Nobel Prize, conferring millions of Swedish krone (more than a million American dollars) and everlasting fame upon its recipients, honours the year’s highest achievements in knowledge. Yet even as it grips our imaginations, could this illustrious award simultaneously distort our understanding of how that knowledge works? Continue reading →

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Sharing knowledge – effectively!

Posted on September 25, 2017 | Leave a comment

(Eileen Dombrowski, from OUP blog) “Alone we go fast, together we go far.” So goes the proverb quoted by a leading neuroscientist involved in a major new project bringing together 21 labs in Europe and the United States for research on the brain. The international team aims to discover “where, when, and how neurons in the brain take information from the outside world, make sense of it, and work out how to respond.” What’s interesting for the Theory of Knowledge classroom is the commitment undertaken by all the labs to work within a shared framework. Continue reading →

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PS to “This is the nature of science.”

Posted on August 29, 2017 | Leave a comment

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(by Eileen Dombrowski, from OUP blog) Yes, I too found the solar eclipse thrilling, and a little spooky. The summer sunshine grew dim and a chill settled over the garden. Curved bites appeared in the dappled shadows of leaves. Like many others, we peered at light falling through the pinholes of a homemade cardboard box to see the image of the bright circle of the sun largely blotted out by the dark shadow of the moon. Yes, it was thrilling – even though we were not ourselves placed along the swath named so resonantly “The Path of Totality”. Continue reading →

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“This is the nature of science.”

Posted on August 21, 2017 | Leave a comment

(by Eileen Dombrowski, from OUP blog) Today I offer you morsels from a book I’m reading as a delectable snack for your mind. Beautifully written, it reminds me that, in our course, we look at areas of knowledge not just for their description and analysis but also for their wonder. In many ways, I feel TOK to be a celebration of what we can know, and what we do know — almost, at times, in spite of ourselves. Let this reflection on science by Carlo Rovelli give you a bit of refreshment as you guide your students to the kind of vast overview that we aspire to take in IB Theory of Knowledge! Continue reading →

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Where do fresh ideas come from?

Posted on September 26, 2016 | Leave a comment

(by Eileen Dombrowski, from OUP blog) Where do new ideas come from? Is it inevitable, I wonder, that in trying to talk with students about using ways of knowing creatively I’m inclined to turn to individual stories of “getting ideas”?  Today I’d simply like to share two or three resources for raising discussion of creativity in class. Continue reading →

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