Week 10

This week I spent a total of three hours with student going over searching Contemporary Studies, Algebra and his Honors English class. Session took place at home using book and internet sites to aid in the completion of homework. For his report in Contemporary Studies we listed the criteria for his report in one column and his beliefs on the subject in the other. I also asked him to list his interpretations and what he might have heard or his in subject area from friends and or any readings he may have done.

Student needs to complete a summary essay on electricity and the origins of how, when and why. His beliefs were that when Thomas Edison had found out how to create electricity that each state started to create their own. After doing some reading and internet searches, he learned that he was only partially right in regards to who created or exploited the potential of electricity. He found out that Tesla, once working for Thomas Edison and working on a different current system was the actual true inventor to the electricity of today. He also learned that once invented, only a few places (major cities) had electricity and that many of the rural cities didn’t receive electricity until in some cases the 1960’s.

One problem that we ran into was so many people say something on a subject that one may have the tendency to take it as truth. Scientific Inquiry in this instance isn’t about discovering something but rather to research and pull facts from fiction. He learned that it was once thought that Edison was the creator of electricity (and he was) but Tesla was the creator of the AC/DC current system today that the world relies on.

I believe that our tutoring centered on scientific inquiry as we ciphered through facts and inaccurate beliefs that one holds through word of mouth. I believe this was very helpful in the realization that when one questions the truth or what is thought to be the truth, a person can actually find the answers through research.