Teaching science to the Torah-observant student

Abstract

Graduation from an educational institution entails the successful completion of a more or less prescribed regimen of course work. As students have varied interests, aptitudes, and career goals, each course does not evoke equivalent intellectual stimulation and appeal. An instructional approach available to the teacher to enliven a "required" course (i.e., a course that the student may perceive as irrelevant) is to focus on existing strengths within the students. When teaching in an Orthodox Jewish educational system it can be assumed that the student body has a working knowledge of the basics of Tanach, Talmud, and Halacha. ln teaching a secular course in such an institution, the course can better "hit-home" if, when presenting illustrative examples of a particular topic, the instructor presents topics gleaned from the Torah. For students educated and trained in yeshivas or Orthodox Jewish day schools, the incorporation of Torah-derived illustrative examples into science lectures can make the course material more interesting. The more relevant the subject matter is to the class, the better it will be transmitted to and absorbed by that class. The wealth of available Torah material, i.e., especially if one includes Tanach, Talmud, and Halacha, makes it relatively simple to include some relevant point into any area in biology