Educators attending a science camp, held at Hsitou (
The policy, they said, which excessively stresses the significance of science at school, cautioning that over-emphasizing the hard sciences has led to a dangerous nonchalance among students toward social sciences and the arts.
"Our educational policy has long been centered on cultivating the scientific mind," said an insightful statement, sent by an Internet surfer, was projected onto a stage screen at a forum hosted by Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (
"But if progressive scientific information cannot be utilized by someone with a more rounded perspective, detrimental human behavior, such as polluting the environment or starting another nuclear war, may not be eradicated," the statement said.
"In addition to reinforcing students' scientific prowess, shouldn't educators also impress a sense of humanity onto students' minds?" the statement said.
Participants in the symposium, centered on science education, were not limited to the scholars and educators attending; Internet participants were also invited to offer their opinions.
Tzeng took turns answering questions posed by attendees and Web surfers.
Among other topics, the reflective question about Taiwanese students' lack of human interest, raised by the surfer, generated the most heated discussion.
Many of educators present echoed the view of the Web participant, saying that schools' over-emphasis on science-related subjects only produces a swarm of self-interested students.
They agreed that finding ways to guide students to make use of their scientific knowledge in order to make Taiwan a better place to live -- not to selfishly destroy it -- was an urgent task.
"I absolutely agree," Tzeng said. "There is a pressing need to instill the desire to use science to prevent the further destruction of the environment and to protect human beings from the more deleterious consequences of technology."
"Particularly at a time when technology and science advance at such a speedy pace, human issues and science have to be better integrated," said Tzeng.
"The two fields are closely associated. Taking cloning as an example, there are intricate ethical issues involved."
He suggested that more interdisciplinary programs linking human issues with technology be offered at colleges so students can benefit from being exposed to different academic disciplines, in the hope of stimulating more open thought and creating more well-rounded individuals.
Though the National Science Council (NSC) is known for its role in enhancing the nation's scientific development, Vice Chairman Wu Maw-kuen (
Wu added that since last year the funding provided by the council for humanity-oriented science projects had been dramatically increased, in an effort to elevate the concern for human problems in science students.
Director of the NSC's department of natural science and mathematics, Wang Yu (王瑜), said that a National Science and Technology Conference to take place every four years was set to be held next March, and that the relationship between the human spirit and technological advancement would be one of the main themes at the meeting.
Four days of science
Courses at the six-day science camp came to an end yesterday. This year 121 high school and college students and approximately 70 teachers took part.
Students found the week at the camp tremendously worthwhile because they had the unusual opportunity of meeting world renowned scientists and making friends who shared their penchant for science.
"Just think of the chance we had. It's amazing. We were so fortunate to be here to meet and listen to some of the world's greatest scientists and be directly guided by them," said Phil Wu (
The program was spread over four days, with one or two lectures given each day by scientists specializing in different fields. A question and answer session followed each lecture.
The guest speakers this year included Morris Chang (張忠謀), President of the Taiwan Semiconductor MFG Co, Ltd (台灣積體電路製造公司), Ovid Tzeng, Steven Chu (朱棣文), Nobel laureate for Physics in 1997, Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠), chemistry professor of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, and James William Schopt, Paleobiology professor of University of California, Los Angeles.
Students selected to attend the camp are believed to be the country's most gifted science students. While they marveled at the breadth of knowledge of the attendant experts, comments that the lectures were at times beyond students' level of comprehension were also heard.
Hsieh Wen-pin (謝文彬), a soon-to-be freshman of the National Tsinghua University, said it did not matter that he did not entirely comprehend the contents of each lecture.
"I probably only managed to understand half of each lecture. But it's good not to understand the whole thing, because then you know there's a lot more to learn. The more meaningful point is to broaden my perspective," he added.
Albert Wu (吳孟軒), a high school student from National Experimental High School at the Science Based Industrial Park, told the Taipei Times that, in his view, science was learned piece by piece.
"Now I only understand this piece, and tomorrow that one. Though not getting the whole picture, I am sure I eventually will if I learn these little bites gradually and solidly," he said.
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