Teaching with Science Fiction: 10 Reasons for Use in a Science Class

Origin of the List

 

Writing as Valerie Smith, I once presented a paper at AAAS in New Orleans with co-authors Jessica Scott and my husband Wayne Coskrey. This list is from that paper, except #10. In the original paper, items 1-9 each had 2 or more peer-reviewed-type references cited. Furthermore, the list is reworded to not be so nerdy.
Re: "Teaching the Science in Science Fiction," 1990.

10 Reasons to Use Science Fiction in the Science Classroom

 

Apophysis flame "Spaceman" (c) V. Coskrey

• SF can motivate students to like science.
  
• SF models scientific thinking and problem-solving.
  
• SF presents the science world-view.
  
• SF illustrates how science and technology affect lives.
  
• SF examines scientific issues for possible solutions and potential consequences.
  
• SF models possible futures, preparing students for change.
  
• SF connects science to the humanities and social sciences.
  
• SF provides practice in reading skills.
  
• SF fosters vivid mental images of scientific phenomena.
  
• SF is fun that can be shared!
  

Adapted from V. Smith, J. Scott, and W. Coskrey (1990). Teaching the Science in Science Fiction. Unpublished paper presented to AAAS, New Orleans, LA.

Additional Remarks: Start a Conversation

Like any good book shared among friends and associates, science fiction offers conversation starters. Class discussions often need an example to get the students thinking and talking. Examples from books can lead to examples from personal experiences and then to examples from the textbook or the teacher's knowledge.

Now the student is ready to learn technical concepts and vocabulary because the concept has become real to the student. Now the student is ready for a vocabulary word and a definition. Now the student is ready to state a law. Now the student is ready to solve a problem based in math or chemistry. Why now? Because the mental images of concrete examples offer a sense of reality--the science is more real to the student.

by Valerie Coskrey

A Grab Bag of Thoughts from William Wood on Strategies, Goals, the Emerging Science of Morality, and Science Fiction

William Wood, In a comment to David Brin's post on Facebook, 10/23/10,  wrote a thoughtful essay on values. He completed the essay with words on the usefulness of science fiction in exploring alternatives.

First, the question tossed out by David Brin.

David Brin If communism was a principal threat to freedom a generation ago, can there be any doubt that the madness and danger is coming from a different direction today?

The Real Reason for Tea Parties - David Brin - Open Salon

open.salon.com

Lighting the political lamp (it may be on for a couple of weeks), let me begin with a disclaimer, for those of you who don't know me ... I despise all dogmatists, including those on the far-left. As a one-time keynoter for a Libertarian Party Convention, I have the bona fides of someone who has re...

Source: http://www.facebook.com/thedavidbrin, [10/23/10]

Next the Essay in a Comment by William Wood

Here's a grab bag of not-entirely-related thoughts...

FIRST, David, I think you are absolutely right to point to measurables [sic] as a basis for evaluating the success of alternative strategies. This is hard won data that we should prize accordingly.

SECOND, I think that a large part of the problem is that parties in this discussion are at odds not only over methods but over goals. We can't even agree, for instance, whether addressing climate change IS a goal (i.e. if it is real and/or caused by humans having put trillions of tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere) let alone HOW we might address it.

One type of participant in the discussion will try to inventory worthy goals (based either on concrete issues such as climate change, defeating poverty, protecting the world from WMD proliferation, conquering cancer, etc., or on aspirations such as returning to the moon, placing humans on Mars, etc.), develop means to achieve them, then weigh priorities.

Another type of participate will enter the discussion not with projects such as these in mind, but with the goal to protect individual liberties. Projects such as the above, requiring collective, coordinated will (and expense), are most easily seen as a threat to one with individual liberties in the forefront of her values.

This second problem is caused by the immaturity of the emerging science of morality. For so long, people have thought of morality in either religious terms or intuitive terms. Conceived either way, morality is no more than a fiction, a contest of who can persuade better to get his way. It's clear, though, that if we swap out the term "morality" and instead speak of a "science of human well-being", there is content here that is real. As Derek Parfit says, "Disbelief in God, openly admitted by a majority, is a recent event, not yet completed. Because this event is so recent, Non-Religious Ethics is at a very early stage. We cannot yet predict whether, as in Mathematics, we will all reach agreement." (Reasons and Persons, p.454).

Looked at in terms of a science of well-being, it is clear that there is no such "thing" as a "right" to individual liberties (what could such a "thing" be? point to one, please!); acknowledging liberties, instead, is a strategy for achieving well-being -- one that works quite well in many contexts. We need to ask the deeper, harder questions, though. WHICH contexts, specifically? Where will it not work well? How may promoting the concept of individual liberty affect the aggregation of wealth, and what affects will that have on well-being? Etc.

Alas, many unknowns.

My own view is that promoting individual liberties (and their corollary: individual responsibilities and accountabilities) is probably a good default strategy for promoting well-being -- but the ecology of our interconnectedness is so complex, so little-understood, that we should be wide open to exceptions and in full support of more study.

Which brings me to my THIRD (and last!) point: SF as a genre is uniquely poised to be the literature of this experiment. It is the genre where positing possible futures is the norm! Some are posited as cautions, others as choices we may wish to pursue. We can rally 'til we're blue in the face, but what will really change the world is when lots of people can understand and embrace a choice for the future together. Stories do this far better than argumentation or argument! (Although, to Stewert's and Colbert's credit, humor does a damn fine job, too.) We need to be able to see, smell, LIVE the possible futures, in advance, to be able to choose them.

And sadly, I don't think sf is succeeding here. Not for lack of quality or insight, mind you! Gad, no! It's a much simpler reason: to connect to lots of people, literary sf has got to get off its high horse and get into film and television. Much. Much. More. What I would give, for instance, to have a series similar to Masterpiece Theater / Mystery! devoted to high-quality sf! How can we make this happen?!

FB Report: Lots of Links on Speculative Fiction -- 10/12/10

 After only a few months, the Reading for the Future page on Facebook is approaching 150+ Likes.  In the Discussion threads are dozens of books categorized by reading level.

And there have been some really interesting links posted. Most were introduced by Cie, the page's main admin lady (or, as David A. called her in a recent email, our RFF-FB "missionary"). Did you catch these on your visits to rff on fb?

Note: This is not a verbatim report. Extraneous phrases were cut, some phrases were reworded, and info after the link is dropped. But you get the idea, right?

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Said physicist Stephen Hawking, “Science fiction is useful both for stimulating the imagination and for defusing fear of the future.” Sigma Xi the Scientific Research Society recently surveyed its members, asking: '"Did science fiction influence you?"  10/7/10
www.sigmaxi.org 
Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society: Member Newsletters: Did Science Fiction Influence You?

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This is an interesting article, possibly some hints to reach some Romance readers who think SF is not for them? 10/6/10
www.geekmom.com GeekMom » Blog Archive » Science Fiction Romance: Not an Oxymoron

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Of course we all know this is by no means complete. They didn't even mention War of the Worlds' laser beams and chemical warfare. 10/4/10
http://mashable.com 11 Astounding Sci-Fi Predictions That Came True

To this on 10/5/10, William Wood commented, "Not to poo-poo the idea that 'one of the most important reasons for reading and teaching SF' is it's ability to anticipate technology, but..." He continued, "What gives sf its literary potency is not that it anticipates tech but that it provides a way for u...s to envision possible worlds. Some sf worlds are offered as cautions; others as options we may wish to choose. In either case, the thing is this: we need to take responsibility for bringing about the future, and sf is the genre that gives us a laboratory for envisioning our choices."
To which Cie responded, "But it does illustrate one of the most important reasons for reading and teaching SF. "

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'Looking for the Science in Fiction' Thank you David Brandt!  10/3/10 www.hardsf.org Hard SF: Free Audio SF - Story Readings, New Additions

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Why is this here? Read the fine print...
The Echo Park Time Travel Mart helps support 826LA, a non-profit organization “dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write”.   10/3/10
www.laughingsquid.com Echo Park Time Travel Mart

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To commemorate Banned Books Week, the Internet Archive lets you read & download 74 banned books, and they're all FREE.
~Cie   10/2/10
www.archive.org Banned Books : Free Books : Free Texts : Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

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Attention Librarians! Here is a great resource for using SF in your Libraries. Please leave some feedback, your thoughts are important.
(Note, the link below is to the download page.~Valerie)
Said AboutSF, "We are currently beta testing a Librarian's Portable Teaching Workshop. Please feel free to download this material and add any comments about usability, effectiveness, or suggestions for change in the comments below. We look forward to hearing from you about our newest project."   9/30/10
www.aboutsf.org  Beta Test the Workshop for Libraries (Download) | AboutSF www.aboutsf.com

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Below is a series of statements and links that represent a combined, shared link. Eventually, at the bottom of the set, you get to the link to the actual statement by Walter Mead. Enjoy the conversation!

David Brin shared this link. Said David, "This is essentially a blog post about Walter Russell Mead's article, but the more important point here is:
READ SCIENCE FICTION
"Thanks to C. J. Cherryh for bringing this to my attention and for having such a great cover for Cyteen: The Betrayal - seen below :)
Read science fiction to understand the things that mainstream pundits won't talk about.(sic)"
io9.com
"'Why should you be reading more science fiction? Not just for the thrills or awesome science. You should read SF to explore ideas about society that academics and pundits won't talk about,'(sic) writes Walter Russell Mead in The American Interest."   9/23/10   
laughingsquid.com

Then there was a second share; and the same conversation continued.

Cie added, "Thank you David Brin for bring this to our attention!"
blogs.the-american-interest.com
Literary Saturday: Science Fiction is a Genre That Everyone Should Read - Walter Russell Mead's Blog
David said "I have read a lot of science fiction. I started reading this stuff when Sputnik was still in the news; the first satellites were spooking through the sky when I was turning the pages of novels by Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein and A. E. Van Vogt. I read everything in the genre that the Glenwood Ele..."   9/23/10
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/09/18/literary-saturday-science-fiction-is-a-genre-that-everyone-should-read/

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Another conversation on fb that made the rounds of friends and ended up on emails in Talking RFF, the rff Yahoo! Group. The original source was Al MacAlister. and it became part of the dialog on appreciating alternative history as speculative history, speculative fiction, and a learning motivator--that is, once we had wiped our eyes and otherwise recovered from the pain of laughing so hard! In that dialog, Valerie reminded the group that many a space opera series has become what someone once called "future history." Be sure to learn about World War II in this article. Priceless.

www.collegehumor.com

OMG WWII on FACEBOOK!