As promised, I've been keeping a (semi-)regular journal of my experience in the University of Oregon's Paleontology MS program. Here's the short version: this is awesome.
There is a long version. I'd be happy to write it! Unfortunately, part of that long version is proof of the proposition, "students have assignments to submit for assessment," and the other part is demonstration of the fact that teachers should plan their lessons. So instead of writing out something new, I'll take this opportunity to review what I already wrote.
After my first class I worried that science education might set me down the path to constructivism.
After my second class I had my first lab meeting. Think of the relation "x in y" for the values "x = a kid" and "y = a candy store."
Once I got acclimated to my surroundings, I returned to thinking about the metaphysical nature of fossils. This time I was armed with different terminology: if fossils are samples, then what is the population?
Amidst the world's various struggles and upheavals, I found some small measure of hope while sorting through microfossil matrix. (I also found a rodent tooth.)
Then: what happens when a modal realist thinks about statistical hypothesis testing? Appropriately enough, worlds collide!