What would an evidence based world look like? How can we get there? What’s wrong with the way we teach STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths? How can we teach our kids to be ethical, creative, rational problem solvers?
Raising Heretics is a blueprint for a rational, evidence based world. Written by Dr Linda McIver, Founder and Executive Director of the Australian Data Science Education Institute, this book will change the way you see the world.
The best way to buy this book & support ADSEI is to order it directly from us by filling in the form below. You can also order it from your favourite bookseller, but this may take longer and cost more. Email contact@adsei.org if you have any questions.
An audiobook version of the book is available here, and you can access a clickable list of all the footnotes and references in the book here.
About the book
In this book, I want to show you how Data Science Education is key to nurturing a rationally sceptical, creative, ethical, problem solving population who can save the world.
I’m going to do that by looking at the problems we have in the Data Science and Technology communities today, and how those communities are shaping our world – problems and all – in Chapter 1: “Who’s in Charge?”
Given that Data Science is in the driver’s seat, taking us towards a future we are not yet equipped to understand, in Chapter 2: “The Shape of the Future”, we’re going to talk about what the future could look like if everyone had enough data literacy to form evidence based policy, support high quality science, and have a say in the shape of our future.
Of course, if we want an evidence based society that treats science with respect, we need to understand how science actually works. Too often a change in our understanding of something – whether it’s climate change, a virus, or our diet – leads us to think that science got it wrong. Scientists, however, know that this is how science progresses – by improving our understanding of complex systems. That means that sometimes what we think we know about science today turns out to be wrong tomorrow. This is science at its best. Unfortunately there is a perception in the wider community that science is solved. And science education reinforces that idea quite firmly. Chapter 3: “Science is Solved”, looks at the way we (mis)understand science, and how we can fix it.
We’re then going to explore the issues with our current education system in more depth. There is no such thing as perfect data, yet we treat data with more reverence than it deserves. Our entire education system is built on the idea of being measurable, yet all too often “measurable” winds up being the opposite of “meaningful”. In Chapter 4: “Measurable or Meaningful, pick one”, we’ll consider how we got here, and how we can create an education system that focuses on meaningful outcomes, and develops our students into rational, ethical heretics.
All of these goals require us to get comfortable with the idea of uncertainty. To be prepared to challenge the status quo, query accepted wisdom, and even to question our own findings. Chapter 5: “Accepting the Unexpected”, will focus on why uncertainty is important, and how we can get comfortable with it, especially in education.
Why should you take my word for it? Chapter 6: “Projects with Impact”, goes into detail about how data science projects work, with case studies from my own teaching, and Chapter 7 outlines templates for data science projects involving community projects and more global issues, with examples of units ADSEI has created right across the curriculum, from Humanities to STEM.
Finally, how do we get there from here? Chapter 8: “Show me the Map”, maps out what we need to do to overhaul our education system and raise all of our children to be rational heretics, so that they can understand the world, and then save it.
Praise for Raising Heretics
“I wish my teachers had had this book. I wish I’d had this book when I started teaching. A joyous, compelling exploration of the importance of critical thinking, creativity and curiosity to good data science practice, filled with wise lessons for all educators in STEM. My favourite takeaway? It’s not about cool gadgets and toy problems. Make something meaningful and you make it matter, for every student. What a privilege it would be to witness Linda McIver in action in the classroom.” Ellen Broad, Author of Made by Humans.
“In this fantastic book Linda has taken a lifetime of teaching and computer science research to engagingly make clear the importance of heretics who question perceived wisdom, how best to teach that skill to our students of all years and abilities, and have them create a fairer and more equitable future for all of us as AI dominates our world.” Professor Alan Duffy, Director, Space Technology and Industry Institute, Lead Scientist, The Royal Institution of Australia
“An important book for modern educators which discusses data education in a way that is accessible for the non-specialist audience. It advocates for changes to educational approaches and policies that reflect contemporary trends in educational theory, focusing on the need for deep and transformative learning, as opposed to the mechanistic achievement of high scores. McIver provides a wealth of accessible examples to support her arguments, drawn both from her personal experience and other sources. It is clearly written from and for the Australian context – and amid the ongoing covid pandemic – though provides broader lessons for educational practices more generally. There are some significant lessons to learn from this text about the importance of helping our young people to become critical, sceptical and independent thinkers who can cope with a rapidly changing world, rich in information.
Full disclosure: I have previously worked with Dr McIver as both an academic and school teacher, though my knowledge of computer programming is quite limited. Her care and concern for the learning of her students is deep and authentic, as is her passion for helping them to construct a better future for us all. I will certainly be taking some of her ideas and suggestions into my own classrooms; I found the ‘Templates for Data Science Projects’ particularly illuminating for how I might do this effectively.” Calvin Taylor, Goodreads review
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for any techie with kids
“As someone that has worked my who career in computing including in programming and data I found it a real struggle to get my kids interested initially in anything related to this.
This book has really helped to explain why I now see them so passionate about they exact same topics as they have grown to understand how data and technology is being used to solve real world problems and also all the issues they see with data in the media especially atm.
I feel anyone who has kids or is teaching formally or informally needs to read this book , the thinking around not having to know the answers to work on something with them is so useful along with how to wrap things in real world context.
I am really looking forward to the future the kids learning this stuff will build !” Elaine van Bergen, Amazon review
Order form
You can use the form below to order copies of the book. $39.95 paperback, discounts for bulk orders. $25 for non-DRM e-book.
