history and philosophy in science teaching

EU HIPST Project: UK

History and Philosophy in Science Teaching

John Oversby: UK Convenor (EU) HIPST

Invitation

Association for Science Education (UK) Annual Conference: January 6-9, Nottingham.

www.ase.org.uk

EU HIPST Project: UK

Some thoughts

“Children are the message we send to the future.” (Abraham Lincoln; 1809—1865.) "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." (Charles Darwin; 1809—1882.) "In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." From a Charlie Brown comic strip. (Charles Schulz) "If women are to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things." (Plato, 428-347 B.C.)

4EU HIPST Project: UK

Overview

• History of science in science education

• Philosophy of science in science education

• Learners’ voices about science education

• HIPST Project

• Future plans

5EU HIPST Project: UK

Thinking

•Did temperature exist before we tried to measure it?

6EU HIPST Project: UK

History of science in science education

• Science has a history

• Value of history of science

• Dangers of history of science

• Ways forward in history of science

7EU HIPST Project: UK

Science has a history

• Science has been practised in the past (hundreds of years?)

• Science has been practised within a cultural context (www.non-western-science.wikispaces.com)

• Science has been practised by research groups and individuals

8EU HIPST Project: UK

Value of history of science

• Stories of science can provide a human perspective e.g. Marat and Lavoisier

• Stories of science can provide evidence of personal conflict, both scientific and social

• Stories of science engage young learners (literacy)

9EU HIPST Project: UK

Dangers of history of science

• Kuhn on textbooks as a source of information: ‘stories of heroes and villains’

• Textbooks do not necessarily indicate how a topic was taught (intended v experienced curriculum)

• Lack of time to include in curriculum

10EU HIPST Project: UK

Thinking

•How many kinds of chemical equations are there?

•In equations, why do chemists use arrows instead of = signs?

11EU HIPST Project: UK

Philosophy of science in science education

• Nature of Science

• Value of Nature of Science

• Dangers of Nature of Science

• Ways forward in engaging with Nature of Science

12EU HIPST Project: UK

Nature of science I (NSTA)

• Scientific knowledge is both reliable and tentative. Having confidence in scientific knowledge is reasonable while realising that such knowledge may be abandoned or modified in light of new evidence

13EU HIPST Project: UK

Nature of Science II (NSTA)

• shared values and perspectives characterise a scientific approach to understanding nature:– a demand for naturalistic explanations with empirical

evidence and testable – observations, – rational argument, – inference, – scepticism, – peer review and – replicability of work

14EU HIPST Project: UK

Nature of Science III (NSTA)

Creativity is a vital part of the production of scientific knowledge.

Science is limited to naturalistic methods and explanations with no supernatural elements

15EU HIPST Project: UK

Nature of Science IV (NSTA)

• A primary goal of science is the formation of theories and laws, with very specific meanings. – Laws are regularities or universal relationships

– Theories are inferred explanations Theories do not ever become laws; they explain laws.

– Well-established laws and theories must fit best available evidence

– Be successfully and widely tested

16EU HIPST Project: UK

Thinking

•Why did early chemists look for a magic ingredient (oxygen or acid-maker) in acids?

17EU HIPST Project: UK

Value of Nature of Science

• Links to How Science Works

• Links to processes of science education

18EU HIPST Project: UK

Dangers of Nature of Science

• Teachers’ views of NoS are frequently naïve and incomplete (Lederman)

• Teachers’ views of science education often conflict with expressed views of scientists

19EU HIPST Project: UK

Ways forward in engaging with Nature of Science

• Better training of teachers and BTs in NoS

• Exemplary material for teachers to use with classes

20EU HIPST Project: UK

Learners’ voices about science education

ROSE international project– They dislike S&T at school: S&T is boring and

difficult– They are interested in ‘real science’ - but less

in ‘school science’ (a living ‘fossil’)– The curriculum is overloaded with ‘correct’

answers - no room for creativity, fantasy, etc– They are very hesitant to study S&T and to work with S&T

– They often have a negative perception of scientists as persons (no good role models)

21EU HIPST Project: UK

Do learners prefer school science?

22EU HIPST Project: UK

HIPST Project

• 11 colleagues in 8 countries

• UK, Poland, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Israel, Hungary

• From Feb 2008 – July 2010

• Provide curriculum and research material for trials in 8 languages

• Materials to be add-on or embedded

• Research:

23EU HIPST Project: UK

Web site structure

• Teachers’ section - scholarship writing, including subject content, history and philosophy

• Scheme of work, to provide the overview

• Pupil pages

• Action Research

24EU HIPST Project: UK

Teachers section

• Principle is scholarship

• Subject content - developing personal subject knowledge beyond the curriculum.

• History - starts from science of the topic, then to related other sciences and then to social and political history. Rather Eurocentric at present.

• Philosophy - derives fundamental ideas from the context.

25EU HIPST Project: UK

Pupil pages

• Lesson by lesson, divided into content, history and philosophy.

• Focuses on processes of history, including personal and social. Science as a community of scholars

• Focuses on a few philosophical ideas

• Includes scientific biographies, to be translated by pupils/ teachers into intermediate language

• Input of excursions by teachers and pupils leading to personalised learning

26EU HIPST Project: UK

Future activity

• Teacher training - a collaborative process to be documented

• Trials with pupils, pre- and post-questionnaires; individual and focus group interviews; videos

• Research papers, theoretical and empirical

• Completion of web sites

• Dissemination activities