We all go through school forced to learn useless information, but we students must learn. As a result, many of us turned to resources like Crash Course, Khan Academy, Extra Credits, and more to pass a test and move on. As a result, we leave high school and enter college feeling like we missed the lessons that matter most. This is J. J. Bartel, Author, Scientist, Historian, Gamer, and this is Beyond the Textbook for Biology 101.
It is important to note that Biology 101 is an undergraduate, prerequisite-fulfilling course. Many students take this course to check the science or biology box for their non-science major. Instructors teaching this course must teach lecture material and laboratory experiments to people who might only do such things once in their lifetime. In such a situation, I, among many other instructors, start teaching the course by presenting the scientific method. Why teach experimentation methods to people who will not become scientists in the future? By the end of this work, one will know the answer.
I want to make sure we are all on the same page. The scientific method has multiple linear steps. There is an explicit first action second action. They are usually defined as Hypothesis, Design and then Do the Experiment, Get Data, Analyse Data, and then communicate the data with others. There can be more nuanced, but that is the basics. Not everyone is a Botanist or a Nuclear physicist with investors, grant money, or a personal fortune paying them to research and investigate the world. Most people encounter problems, and many jobs do revolve around solving problems. The students need to know, especially for the test, and that is usually when the conversation ends.
What every student should understand is that each part has a broader truth attached to it.
In order to solve problems, one must pay attention. If someone wants to grow plants, bank accounts, or platonic or romantic relationships, it requires one to pay attention. Plant and romantic issues often have physical or visual signs; addressing them immediately might be the difference between make and break. If a plant goes from green to an even yellow, it is usually a drowning or dehydrated fellow.
The meaning of life is one of the most complex and vital questions posed to humanity. However, most people do not need the answer for ticks, yeast, jellyfish, or thistles. When I start describing how thistles are important for caterpillars that cocoon into butterflies and moths, most people’s eyes glaze over because that is unimportant to them. However, if I start talking about how thistles can brew into an anti-inflammatory tea that can help their grandmas fight off arthritis, many students perk up. Most people are really asking, “What is the meaning of MY life?” Figuring out the meaning of one organism is easier than all life on planet earth. The joy of a hypothesis is that the experiment is explicitly implied. “How can I get a romantic partner,” is a bad question because you cannot control the other person’s attraction. “How does one become the kind of person that could attract the significant other?” is a better hypothesis because you can do different things and see the results. If one cannot think of an experiment that could solve the questions, consider changing or reworking it.
Our lives are often a living experiment, and our bank account is one data point telling us about our financial experimentation. If we do not like the number in the account, we need to change the experiment. Getting a budget, making more money, or cutting expenses are good ideas. If all potential crushes give someone the same rejection data, that person is the common factor. Change the living experiment to get different data.
The analysis is an underdog that many people desperately need. Some people have these fantastic, hyper-creative, shower thoughts. Some people go on a retreat for a few days, and they can seem like a different person for a while. Then some people go on intense, isolating hikes for a week or more, and they come back and change their lives, becoming the best version of themselves. Unfortunately, most people live in a world that is Go. Go. Go. It is so intense that one has no time to reflect on or analyze what one has learned. We also see the negative side of lacking downtime in trauma victims, who do not give themselves the time to heal. Their terrors live for far longer than they usually would. Critiquing and analyzing, on occasion, lets the mind process past events, come to terms, and move on.
Humans are social to various degrees. Part of that is because a group of humans is more likely to survive than a lone human. Our ability to share information is key to being on top of the food chain. It is why humans have civilization and how people can stand on the shoulders of past achievements. If one does not have to reinvent the pot, it is easier to have a container garden. People level up by getting new information and acting on it.
Part of making good content is fulfilling promises at the beginning. So, Why teach experimentation methods to everyone? We now know the answer. 1. Everyone has problems that they need to solve. 2. One cannot solve problems one does not know, so pay attention. 3. Asking better questions can get better answers. 4. Our lives are experiments; we need to do different experiments if we want different results. 5. Giving oneself time to analyze allows one to process experiences and move on to a brighter future. 6. To communicate is to level up and be even more successful.
If you like this material, check out my book, The Lost Soul of Scholastic Study, for even more great information. More of this content will be released next week, but until next time let’s cultivate some greatness.
What wonderful insights—I feel fortunate to have read this! How true that we must first come to the realization of the issues that confront us before we can successfully deal with them. You offer a practical and helpful guide and present it in such a way that is so useful and easy to understand! Keep writing 🙂
I most certainly will keep writing.