Crank Astronomy as a Teaching Tool. II
Abstract
Many astronomers - and indeed, scientists in general - have dealt with them: You receive one or more emails from intense individuals who insist that your interpretation of any data is wrong and THEIR idea is Truth (with a capitol "T"). The person contacting you might have some scientific background, or none at all. You might respond to the individual, trying to be helpful, perhaps pointing out some misinterpretation they have of your results, or a fatal flaw their idea. They respond with accusations of ignorance, incompetence and conspiracies, and it goes rapidly downhill from there. While most scientists consider these individuals - some of whom are part of more organized groups with various non-scientific agendas - as a nuisance, it might be better to regard them as an opportunity to improve classroom teaching. A surprising number of the claims from these individuals can be addressed at the level of introductory physics or other science classes. They provide simple examples of hypotheses that do not work making them valuable for teaching science and critical thinking. These skills are important for any member of the scientifically literate public and are imperative for any scientist. We present some crank astronomy claims with a focus on heliophysics which are suitable for actual analysis by students with undergraduate-level physics background. The analyses may also be suitable for high school physics classes. We also encourage educators interested in using examples of where people go wrong in their thinking to use these as teachable examples. Some lessons, writing assignments, or extra credit can be assigned to students to require them to use both critical thinking and the information learned in class to counter these kinds of claims. In doing so, one not only encourages the development of a student's critical thinking that will serve them in any field, but the student is also better prepared when they will face similar types of claims in the future.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #223
- Pub Date:
- January 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014AAS...22345105B