The Robot Factory

Joseph Ganem is a Professor and Chair of Physics, Loyola University Maryland. He is an author of numerous scientific papers in the fields of laser development and magnetic resonance, and has received grants from Research Corporation, Petroleum Research Fund, and the National Science Foundation for his research on solid-state laser materials. Prof. Ganem has served on the Maryland State Advisory Council for Gifted and Talented Education. He speaks and writes frequently on consumer and education issues, and has had articles on these topics published in The Baltimore Sun newspaper and The Daily Riff (an online publication on education).

Introduction.- Why I Would Fail Third Grade Math: A Multitude of Problems in One Brief Lesson.- Data-Driven Education Reform: A New Pseudo-science.- Science: Motivation, Measurement, and Meaning.- The Scientific Method Misapplied to Education.- The "Mathematical Intimidation" of Teachers.- The Statistical Impossibility of Adequate Yearly Progress in Schools.- The SAT: Promoting equal opportunity or perpetuating a hierarchy?.- The Accountability Hoax.- Facts versus Stories.- Why Our Kids Don't Get Math.- The Widening Gap Between High School and College Math.- The Disconnect Between the Math Curriculum and Professional Practitioners.- Making Math Relevant: Assessing reading comprehension or math?.- The "Chinese Room".- Misunderstanding Science Education.- Why Science is Hard.- Science as a Noun.- Science as a Question.- Science as a Conversation.- Science as a Guide.- Science as a Verb.- The Limits of Science.- Having It Both Ways.- Teachers are Real Human Beings (Not Idealized Fantasy People).- The Teacher-Student Relationship.- The Opposite of Science: Elevating Complexity.- Impossible Expectations.- Across Time and Space: The complex web of human relatedness.- Do Adults Model the Educational Values They Espouse?.- False Choice: The dark side of storytelling.- Schools are not Cultural Islands.- Dismembering Literature to Avoid its Truths.- The Fallacy of Market-based Education Reforms.- Markets: Meaning and Morality.- Education Markets: The Higher-Ed debacle.- The Charter School Movement.- The Logical Fallacies Embedded in the "Business Model".- The Paradox of Wealth: Towards an Expanded Understanding of Self-Interest.- Rethinking Education.- Back to the Future: The "Deficit Model" of Education.- Transformative Education.- Beyond the Business Model.- Rethinking College: Preparing for the Unimagined.- The Expectations Trap.- The Limits of Education.- The Overlooked Role of Questions and Reflection.- Being Educated.- Knowing and Understanding.- Do Computers Understand?.- Relatedness.- The Real Crisis.- A Call to Action.