50 years ago today we were treated to the continuous "beep-beep" of the first artificial Earth satellite. Sputnik ("traveling companion") was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. [Listen to it here.]It was an exciting time. I remember the thrill of realizing that the space age had truly begun and like many others I tried, unsuccessfully, to find Sputnik in my telescope.
For some, the launch was a traumatic event for another reason. It signaled to the entire world that the Soviet Union was a technologically advanced country. Many interpreted this to mean that science (not technology) education in the Soviet Union was ahead of that in the West. This was not an unreasonable assumption, as it turns out, but not because of Sputnick.
Some improvements in science education were made and, according to popular belief, our students in the West rapidly caught up with those in other countries, only to fall behind again in the 1980's. The truth is certainly more complicated.
Does anyone know of a reliable study of science education in various countries over the past 50 years? What was the real effect of Sputnik in the short term and in the long term?
[Photo credit: Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 4, 2007.]
[See Bad Astronomy for more information and links about Sputnik I.
I remember it well. I was in my Junior year of High School in the States, and oh! the hullabaloo!
ReplyDeleteIn those next two years, there was a lot of talk about science being important, ("We have to catch up!") about encouraging more students to take science and math.
Talk, not action. I was still the only girl in those last two years who took Physics, Chemistry, Math or Geometry. And I was forced to waste valuable class time taking Home Ec. to learn how to run a washing machine and make mashed potatoes.
And the guys who took those courses didn't get dates.
Should have proof-read. To clarify: it was the guys who took maths and science who got no dates. Guys weren't allowed in the Home Ec. classes.
ReplyDeleteWanderin' weeta,
ReplyDeleteYou know how to make mashed potatoes? I'm impressed.
Do you remember what grade you got in the mashed potato lab?
P.S. I don't believe you know how to run a washing machine. Nobody who graduated high school knows that. Little house gremlins run the machines in the middle of the night.
Somehow I missed this comment, to me:
ReplyDelete"Do you remember what grade you got in the mashed potato lab?
P.S. I don't believe you know how to run a washing machine. Nobody who graduated high school knows that. Little house gremlins run the machines in the middle of the night."
I got an A. Of course; I'd been doing all the cooking at home since I was 11. It was ridiculous for me to take a Home Ec. class, but that's what all us girls had to do. No exceptions.
And yes, I know how to use a washing machine. I can also take one apart and put it back together, and it works. They didn't teach that in Home Ec., though.