Concerning her experiences in her capstone History-of-Psychology course,
Kristina Lewis described how she argues for the notion that psychology is a
science, gets her students to discuss the scientific basis of psychology, has
them read about the philosophy of science, etc., etc. Nevertheless, by the end
of the year, she found that:
> Most of the students believe that psychology isn't "really a science"
> because "humans are too variable and you can't ever really understand what
> causes behavior" and "humans have too many choices". So what are we doing
> here folks? I feel like everthing I've said has rolled off their backs ( I
> also teach child development, in which I emphasize empiricism/scientific
> approach).
>
>If we can't convince psych majors that psychology is a science, is there any
>hope of convincing the world at large?
This is fascinating to me! Is this a common experience? Do many of you at
four-year institutions have similar stories to tell? Has more systematic
research been done on this question?
That is, is undergraduate education failing at such a fundamental level? Please
reassure me!
Hopin' I got the names right this time,
Bob Smith
Scootsdale Junior High School
Yuma, AZ
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
