scientific teaching?

I am on a committee at NYU (related to NYU's Morse Academic Program) in which we were given copies of this article on scientific teaching (PDF) by Handelsman et al. The article has many sentences that include the word should, which is a little annoying, but the worst thing about it is that it advocates, repeatedly, basing our teaching methods on scientifically demonstrable successes, measured with metrics. I don't object to being scientifically accountable, and I, for one, use the research-supported techniques of active learning, participatory classroom activities, and peer instruction. However, the article goes on about metrics without giving a single clear example. Why? Because they don't want to undermine their point by bringing up controversial testing strategies. However, we can't be metric-driven if we don't have metrics! So let's all just stop talking about the philosophy of being scientific and find some metrics that we can agree on. I, for one, haven't found anything I like. After all, the goal of physics education is not to create students who perform better on isolated, decontextualized exams like the Force Concept Inventory!

what's the right answer?

In her K/1 class (ages five to seven), the 'fuzz was doing "the weather" when an argument broke out between those who thought the clouds "move the Sun around" and those who thought the clouds "block out the Sun". She let the discussion proceed, encouraging contributions. In the end, the "move the Sun around" group got the consensus. What to do? You can correct them all, and then they learn that scientific truths are handed down by more knowledgeable authorities ("How do you know the Universe is expanding?" "I read it in a book."). Or you can let it lie, in which case they go home thinking they know something that in fact is wrong. Or (best, but extremely time-consuming), you can go through the process of having them turn their pseudo-scientific explanations into predictions about other phenomena, or have them extrapolate their model into other domains, and then see why or where it breaks. That's (to my mind) the only solution you could possibly call science, but it would require an absolutely radical replacement of the current curriculum and structure of school. The 'fuzz didn't have the right (it was someone else's classroom) to blow the schedule, and she didn't want to be a priestess, so she let it lie and moved on to the next activity.