Education in a Postfactual World. Patrick M. Whitehead

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      EDUCATION IN A

      POSTFACTUAL

      WORLD

      EDUCATION IN A

      POSTFACTUAL

      WORLD

      From Knowing to Understanding

      Patrick M. Whitehead, PhD

      Foreword: Jamie Barker, PhD

      Afterword: Gary Senecal, PhD

      Education in a Postfactual World: From Knowing to Understanding

      Copyright © 2018 Patrick M. Whitehead

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

      BrownWalker Press / Universal Publishers, Inc.

      Irvine, California • Boca Raton, Florida

      USA • 2018

       www.BrownWalkerPress.com

      978-1-62734-685-6 (pbk.)

      978-1-62734-686-3 (ebk.)

      Typeset by Medlar Publishing Solutions Pvt Ltd, India

      Cover design by Ivan Popov

      Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Whitehead, Patrick M., 1986- | Barker, Jamie, writer of foreword. | Senecal, Gary, writer of afterword.

      Title: Education in a postfactual world : from knowing to understanding / Patrick M. Whitehead ; foreword by Jamie Barker, PhD ; afterword by Gary Senecal, PhD.

      Description: Irvine, CA : BrownWalker, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2017950761 | ISBN 978-1-62734-685-6 (pbk.)

      | ISBN 978-1-62734-686-3 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Science--Study and teaching. | Teaching--Methodology. | Effective teaching. | Thought and thinking. | Learning, Psychology of. | Educational change. | BISAC: EDUCATION / Teaching Methods & Materials / Science & Technology. | EDUCATION / Learning Styles. | EDUCATION / Aims & Objectives.

      Classification: LCC LB1025.3 .W447 2018 (print) | LCC LB1025.3 (ebook) | DDC 371.302/8--dc23.

      To Flynn Patrick Baxter

      Table of Contents

       Acknowledgements

       Foreword by Jamie Barker, PhD

       Author Foreword

       Introduction

1	You Are Becoming Your Facebook Profile or, Abstractification by Facebook

       PART I: FACT-MINDED METAPHYSICS

2	The World of Facts
3	Knowing versus Understanding
4	Losing, Regaining Consciousness

       PART II: FACT-MINDED EDUCATION

5	Fact-minded Learning
6	Fact-minded Students
7	Dangers of Fact-minded Education
8	Your Brain on Education

       PART III: FACT-MINDED SCIENCE

9	Physics
10	Biology
11	Psychology

       Conclusion

       Afterword by Gary Senecal, PhD

       References

      Acknowledgements

      Iam grateful to the graduate education that I received in the department of psychology at the University of West Georgia (UWG). A few names that come to mind are Chris Aanstoos, Neill Korobov, John Roberts, Hans Skott-Myhre, Eric Dodson, Lisa Osbeck, and John Kim, not to mention the many fellow graduate students that helped me sort through novel ideas at various bars in Carrollton, Georgia. While at UWG, I received more than an education: I learned how to take responsibility for my own learning. This supplied the freedom and flexibility to challenge the academic disciplines that I had found so compelling. This book has been a way for me to organize my thoughts about philosophy, education, and science, as they changed throughout my education. By reading this book, my hope is that college students can feel a bit of the freedom in inquiry and learning that I was fortunate enough to experience first-hand.

      Since most of these chapters came together while I was a graduate student, many of them have parts that have been presented at various conferences