Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chemistry Students Gain From Connecting Chemistry to Biology

By Rebecca Keller

Pupils ought to be taught the subject of science by means of educational textbooks which put a priority on relating a student's normal life, together with further programs of study, to scientific facts & principles. A December 2009 article, which was posted on the website of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), presented in detail how one professor productively introduced that type of teaching model into a university classroom.

At MIT, HHMI professor Catherine Drennan teaches introductory chemistry to approximately two hundred college students, although in high school, she had been a student who didn't like chemistry at all. The way in which she is changing her students' attitudes about chemistry is the way science education should be approached by teachers of all age groups, not just college-age students.
Professor Drennan says that a lot of the incoming MIT first-year students have the same type of attitudes she used to have regarding chemistry. "I tell my students, you may not have discovered your love for chemistry yet, but I'm going to show you how it is applicable." To get them excited about chemistry, Drennan worked with her co-instructor to create examples and problems that connected chemistry topics to biology.

Education researchers at MIT's Teaching and Learning Lab discovered that there was a statistically considerable rise in undergraduate satisfaction with the curriculum after the launch of the inter-disciplinary examples in the lectures. Students were more excited about attending class and actually learning the course work!
A further important outcome is noted in a quote by researcher Rudy Mitchell:
"Even more interesting was the student attendance in the course," Mitchell says. "Large lecture classes often suffer from poor attendance. But 85 percent of students reported attending 90 percent or more of the lectures. That's unheard of in a lecture with 200 students, and it speaks to how enthusiastic the students are about the course."

Drennan's method of inter-curricular education is one that has proven to be effective. What better way to get our children excited about learning science than to relate it to their everyday lives?
Gravitas Publications (http://www.gravitaspublications.com) was started in 2002 because one home-school mom -- who actually was a scientist with a Ph.D. -- could not find age-appropriate, engaging textbooks that built a real basis for a comprehension of science.

For more information about Dr. Keller and Real Science-4-Kids, please visit http://www.gravitaspublications.com.
To see the article referenced, go to http://www.hhmi.org/news/drennan20091217.html
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Relationship Brain Chemistry - Do You Want to Be Right Or to Keep Her?

By Beverly Keyes Taylor

Guys, guess what? You may be wondering why you're doing everything right, yet you're losing the woman you love. Why would that be? A simple understanding of the brain chemistry involved will help you win her and keep her. A man's testosterone is a wonderful thing. This hormone gives you drive, self confidence, well being and reduces your stress. You are driven by it, most likely in more ways than you know.
When you are right, it increases your testosterone. When you are wrong or criticized, it decreases the testosterone. Succeeding with a challenge, winning a battle, being on top, all increase testosterone. So you can see that your chemistry would drive you to want to be right. Yet, a woman is driven more by her oxytocin. Oxytocin is the hormone of love. This hormone gives her pleasure, self esteem, and reduces a woman's stress. So this is very different than a man. Testosterone also drives you to want to succeed, fix things, and provide solutions. If you can't fix something, then your brain chemistry is set to have you forget it.

Now when a woman asks you for something that doesn't make sense to you or doesn't seem to be needed to be done, then your testosterone will push you to fight for what you think is right. That may be fine and dandy for you, but you are crushing her oxytocin and her self esteem. It's as if she's a gentle, fragile flower and you are smashing her beautiful petals. While what you THINK is important to you, what she FEELS is important to her.

So the most important is to listen to her. This is actually a solution. You are fixing a problem just by listening. When you listen to her without interrupting or telling her that what she wants is wrong, then it increases her neurotransmitter Serotonin. This also increases her oxytocin hormone, which lowers her stress. She will feel better that she was able to talk out her problem or problems.
Then if she has been asking you to do something that you didn't want to do, ask yourself, "Do I want to be right or do I want to keep this woman in my life?" Or, "Do I want to increase my woman's happiness?". If you are discounting her feelings, then believe me, you are actively making her unhappy. You being right from a testosterone point of view may be destroying every ounce of love she feels for you. Women are different then men and are driven by different chemistry. Learn to support her with her sensitive chemistry, and you'll have a woman who continues to love you.

Do you want to learn more? Make a huge difference in your life and your relationships. Go to http://www.genderbrainchemistry.com
Beverly Keyes Taylor is the Founder and CEO of the Easy Key to Life™ Institute, and is an award winning speaker, author, entrepreneur, visualization coach, and wellness coach. For over 5 years she has been personally trained by Dr. John Gray, world renown author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, the largest selling relationship author ever.

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