Practical Guidelines: How to promote science and technology as the fulcrum of modern education
We live in an interdependent globalized culture of science and technology. Scientific breakthroughs and modern-day technologies have completely changed the human lifestyle and have paved the way for our future. Science and Technology have added greatly to our material comforts. It has also quickened the tempo of life. It has given humanity a new social outlook and a cultural revolution. Therefore in this age, the study of science and technology is a necessity. Without it, the modern man is like a bullock cart lumbering behind a motorized vehicle.
It should begin at school – with the training of Observation
The study of science should begin during the student’s early in life. The first step should be to teach them the habit of observation. Children are always interested in trees, flowers, birds, insects, in all the things that they see around them. Their curiosity in this regard should be fostered and developed. This can be achieved easily and naturally if teaching is related to those material objects that they are always seeing.
Knowledge of Technology should be imparted naturally in the form of intelligent answers to their childish questions. At the initial stage, more can be taught in this way than mechanically through books and expositions.
Transition to experiments
After a preschool course of this kind, books on science and technology should be gradually introduced. Here practice, demonstration, and actual experiments should precede the study of theories.
After the mind is well trained with the help of examples and experiments the explanations of theories should be attempted. In many developing nations, the reverse method is largely followed. It means a waste of time. A student passes out by mere memory work, and as that memory becomes faint, the associated knowledge becomes nebular, leaving the student in a childish state of ignorance.
Its Influences on the Mind
The study of science and technology has an educative and disciplinary influence on the mind and is of far-reaching importance. It fosters a realistic attitude towards life. And is also the enemy of superstition. A scientist depends on the powers of observation, the reason for his knowledge of the truth. By applying his reason to observed facts before believing in anything, he acquires patience and diligence. He thus lays the foundation of true knowledge.
Conclusion
The study of science and technology acts as a constant urge to acquire knowledge. It deepens our sense of curiosity about the environment. The more we know of the secrets of nature, the more we realize how much remains unknown. We are learning as much of the secrets of the atoms in space as of the molecular cells in the living organism.
So a modern curriculum of studies must include the study of science and technology because modern society needs scientific minds when it comes to solving any problems that humanity faces.