People differ in their mathematical ability. We all know this. Some of us suffered through high school math classes; others excelled. When looking at the overall distribution of scores on standardized math tests, a curious fact emerges: male students, on average, score higher than female students. Of course, individual females can have very high scores,…
For many years, I taught large (300+) introductory first-year psychology classes. Classes were composed of diverse students. Some were there as future psychology majors, others were looking for an “easy” elective. Some were hardworking students seeking an A+, while others simply aimed to pass. Some students were athletes on a university team, while others were…
The BioLogos Foundation is a Christian faith and science organization founded by Francis Collins, who later served as the head of the American National Institutes of Health (NIH), serving for 17 years under three presidents. For many years, BioLogos was led by Debora Haarsma, formerly of Calvin University. Recently, BioLogos released an open letter to…
When I was in graduate school, there was a concern that electronic calculators would profoundly harm children’s ability to do mental calculations. Then, a few decades later, the fear was that violence in video games would lead to increased violence in real life. Now, there is a concern that smartphones are rewiring the brains of…
Psychologists have long been interested in attention. It is a phenomenon at the heart of consciousness and self-awareness. It is real for all of us, but at the same time it is not well understood. We all know what is meant by the word attention, but a simple scientific explanation is elusive. Attention can span…
As I write this at the end of February, science journals are full of the consequences of the Trump administration’s actions on science in the United States and elsewhere. With the pace of changes and the court cases launched, it is not clear what the situation will be when you read this, but whatever happens,…
Last month, I talked about my involvement in quality control at our public universities. I am a member of the Audit Committee of the Quality Council. At universities, each academic program undergoes a review every eight years by external academic experts to ensure that it stays up-to-date and continuously seeks to improve the quality of…
I spent three full days at a university in late November as part of an academic audit. This visit was a step toward ensuring that Ontario universities offer high-quality and continuously improving education. Just as our reformed heritage calls for always reforming the church, universities continuously seek academic improvement. Quality assurance Several years ago, the…
As we enter the season when we remember the birth of the Christ Child, I feel called to live into the mystery of the Incarnation. Though I am a scientist, this is no contradiction. The reality science elucidates appears increasingly mysterious. How did light begin? A century ago, science gave us greater certainty. Einstein revised…
It is an exciting time to be a physicist. There are a lot of puzzles that need investigating about the cosmos God has put us in. We don’t know, for example, what dark matter and energy are, yet they make up the most significant portion of our world. Likewise, the two overarching theoretical frameworks in…
I have dyslexia. Spelling and pronunciation are, for me, nonexistent abilities. While spell-check is a blessing, I recently gave a “mediation” rather than a “meditation” at church – spell-checking programs do not correct a wrong real word. And I must be careful when speaking not to confuse people with my pronunciation of more complicated words….
In 1939, Paul Müller discovered that DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was a very effective insecticide. It became widely used to kill mosquitoes and reduce the incidence of malaria and other insect-spread diseases. In 1948, Müller received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on the effects of DDT and how it aided the fight against disease….
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