About Learning and Education

About the Book

Developed societies have world-class healthcare and good education. Both command a good portion of the budget and public interest. America has healthcare services that are the envy of the world. But education has been suffering over the past few decades as evidenced by our children’s low scores on the international PISA Test when compared with other industrialized nations in math, science, and reading. Many blamed lack of funding, poverty, and minority students. Education powerhouses, Finland and Korea, regularly recruited their teachers from the top of their graduating class. Students were serious and studied hard; their parents were cognizant of the significance of education and set high expectations for their children. The society respected the teaching profession. Children were aware of their teachers’ achievements; they were respectful and spared no effort to learn.

About the Author

The principal author is a Fulbright scholar with a doctorate degree in chemistry and a United States patent. He taught at Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas; Missouri Southern State College, Joplin, Missouri; Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa; Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman; and Mosul University, Mosul, Iraq. The coauthor has a doctorate degree in physics and worked as a senior programmer analyst with Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services, Topeka, Kansas. The authors have three grown daughters. They have college degrees in medicine (MD), chemical engineering, and journalism. Both as parents and educators, the authors have hands-on experience with the education process domestically as well as overseas. This helped formulate an opinion about factors that may enhance or hinder the outcome of the education system. The authors live in the Florida panhandle. They have six grandchildren who live with their parents in Kansas.