Plenary Presentation:
Science Stories: A Spectrum of Considerations for Learning in and About Science
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangiit, Stories, and Science Teaching in Nunavut Barbara McMillan, University of Manitoba, Canada
This paper reports on the development of learning units for 6-9 year old students in three communities located in the North Qikiqtani region of Nunavut. The units address sound and light outcomes in the Canadian Common Framework of Science Learning Outcomes, K – 12. More importantly, they incorporate aspirations of the local communities, District Education Authorities, and Nunavut government for ‘bothways’ science education: an education that develops knowledge in and about science and knowledge passed on to the Inuit by their ancestors. In our attempt to bring Inuit culture, history, traditions, and values into school science, published oral histories and English language transcriptions of elders’ accounts of Inuit Quajimajatuqangiit are utilized. Examples of the stories and narratives, created for Nunavut teachers and children from these resources, are presented and discussed in the context of ‘two-way’ science learning.
The Anatomy of a Science Story Stephen Klassen, University of Winnipeg, Canada
Science educators are beginning to establish a theoretical and methodological foundation for constructing and using stories in science teaching. At the same time, it is not clear to what degree science stories that have recently been written adhere to the guidelines that are being proposed. The author has written a story about Louis Slotin, which deals with the beginnings of radiation protection, to serve as a case study. In this paper, the story is dissected and evaluated with the view to begin to establish a method of literary criticism for science stories. The story critique is guided, in part, by student responses to the story.
Constructing Stories with Legs: They Stand Alone and Travel Well Michael P. Clough, Joanne K. Olson, Iowa State University, U.S.A.
This presentation will address a project underway at Iowa State University to develop historical short stories for use in undergraduate introductory astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology and physics courses. The developed short stories accurately convey the historical development of the targeted fundamental science ideas, and questions and comments inserted in the short stories draw students’ attention to key nature of science ideas. Many attempts at accurately portraying the NOS in science courses have been problematic, in part, because post-secondary science faculty balks when such instruction detracts significantly from science content instruction. The stories are designed to teach fundamental science ideas and to fit into existing undergraduate science curricula so that post-secondary science faculty can incorporate them when and where they deem suitable.
We Now Interrupt the Story Don Metz, University of Winnipeg, Canada
The interrupted story is a useful implementation strategy for the teacher interested in using historical narratives with hands-on, minds-on learning. In such a strategy the story is used to direct actions of the student and invites prediction and inference, innovation, experimental design, and data analysis. Original student ideas and explorations are compared and contrasted with original historical descriptions of apparatus and procedure. At the same time, well placed questions direct students towards nature of science outcomes.
Using Scientific Controversies to Teach the Nature of Science Gregory L. Macklem, Program in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Notre Dame Erik Peterson, Program in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Notre Dame
Controversies in science, whether historical or modern, can be powerful tools to promote classroom discussion of the nature of science. These debates highlight the intellectual challenges scientists face everyday and questions general society must consider in ways students (and perhaps teachers) may not think about. Examples of such controversies and issues include the purported canals of Mars, the shift to heliocentrism, the Darwinian revolution, the apparent inconsistency between Darwinian evolution and Mendelian genetics, credit for the discovery of Neptune, ‘unobservables’ such as electrons, the study of cranial size, and pharmaceutical research. These controversies provide an entry into discussions about the role of observation and theory formation, potential problems in observation, the importance of avoiding assumptions, how theories are selected, the use of inference from data and direct observation, ways that debates about competing theories have typically been resolved, the funding of science, and what purposes science should serve.
A Methodological Proposal to Assume Themselves to the Resolution of Problems and to
Promote Linguistic Cognitive Strengths Johanna Camacho & Mario Quintanilla, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile Merce Izquierdo, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. España Agustin Aduriz-Bravo, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Argentina
The objective of this article is to propose some methodologies directives to orient to the professors of chemistry to promote linguistic cognitive strengths from an historical episode, didactically deliberate. On the matter, we propose three strategies: a) to make the problems problematic and to identify types of competitions b) Identification of scientific problems and communication of meaning and c) Evaluation of the experience with and the students. This proposal is sustained from a naturalized epistemology that allows us to conceive science like a deeply human activity and the construction of school scientific knowledge with scientific theory in the same way that the chemistries through processes meta cognitive where they are integrated the thought, the language and the action, contributing this way to an image of science more near to the cultural and political activity of the scientific communities.
Teaching of Electric Circuits Theories in Introductory Courses: How Did We Get Here? Jana Jilek, Red River College, Canada
At the beginnings of electrical sciences the terminology used by the scientists was varied and vague. There was no system of units for measuring the various aspects of electricity, described by terms as tension, voltaic excitation, electric virtue, etc. Using an historical approach, the paper traces the development of the science of electricity and the key applications, from the Voltaic cell to today's large-scale power plants. It discusses the complex interplay between the theoretical and the practical and the role of the practical applications in formulating terminology and definition of units for measurements of electricity.
Classroom Inquiry on the Fringes of Science Dougal MacDonald, Department of Elementary Education, University of Alberta, Canada
Many people believe in the claims of pseudoscience, a mysterious body of lore about natural phenomena that is inconsistent with existing, well-established scientific knowledge and which is essentially untested. Examples of pseudoscientific claims include: “Some people have ESP.” “Astrology rules our lives.” “Bigfoot lurks in the forest.” This session will show how scientific inquiry into pseudoscientific claims can provide engaging, thought-provoking opportunities for students to better understand science concepts, skills, and attitudes, and to learn more about the nature and everyday applications of science.
The Game of Prediction and Retrodiction: A Radical-Constructivist Perspective on the Notion of
Time in Science Andreas Quale, Department of Teacher Education, University of Oslo, Norway
The notions of prediction and retrodiction in the natural sciences are examined. These notions derive from our perception of time, as an ordering scheme for our experiential world. The issue of physical determinism vs. human free will is examined, from a perspective of radical constructivism, and contrasted with the issue of solipsism vs. shared experience. Both prediction and retrodiction are discussed, mainly in the context of physics, and shown to be realisable only to a very limited extent. Some implications for the ability of science to "forecast" what will happen in the future, or to "infer" what has happened in the past, are reviewed. It is concluded that scientific knowledge, of both past and future, is (and must be) constructed in the present, based on presently observed data and theoretical arguments. Hence there can be no conception of "objectively true knowledge", either of the future or of the past.
Breaking the Reign of Definitons- The Case for “Science” Niyazi Gulnar, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
This study argues that dominative role of some attributions given to “science” constrain people from comprehending diverse approaches to nature of science in today and in the past. A way to embrace different views may be found by means of a more general definiton, which includes more attributions. This study has presented how –only- two well-known characteristics attributed to science may make development in our view about the nature of science and what is science or not.
A Wittgensteinian Critique of Two Contemporary ‘Turns’ in Science Education Learning Theory Wendy Sherman, Kent State University, U.S.A. Christian Greiffenhagen, University of Manchester, U.K.
Recent theories on learning in science education research are exemplary of two ‘turns’ prominent in social science more generally: a socio-linguistic turn, and a contextual turn. While the social turn in learning theory is often associated with Vygotsky’s writings, and the contextual turn is often linked to a constructivist philosophy/sociology of science, both moves are also seen as being influenced by the work of the later Wittgenstein. In our reading of these turns in learning theory, however, both movements are wrong to cite Wittgenstein for their projects. In fact, these turns are striking not so much for what they change as for what they retain from the theories they seek to replace. We assert that social theories of learning frequently preserve a mentalist/cognitive view which is quite contrary to Wittgenstein’s teachings. Similarly, contextual treatments of knowledge often maintain an affinity for representationalism, which Wittgenstein disavowed.
Resettling the Thoughts of Mach and the Vienna Circle to Europe Karl Hayo Siemsen, INK, FHOOW, Emden, Germany Hayo Siemsen, STRL, DeMontfort University, Leicester, U.K.
The scientific question of the EU-proposal POPBL3 was, in how far it would be possible to resettle the thoughts of Ernst Mach and the Vienna Circle to Europe. The thoughts of Mach and the scientific fields he influenced (in this case Psychophysics and Gestalt theory) have survived in Finland. The Fins are successful with their school system; in comparisons they tend to worldwide come first in different categories. Research has revealed that the Fins have gone through an independent cultural development in two specific aspects: in the idea of the development of the individual personality (Tengström, Snellman) and in a specific phenomenalism (developed by Kaila, whereby Kaila (followed by von Wright) was heavily influenced by Mach and Gestalt psychology). The result is a real nation-wide "Experiment". The evaluation can be found in the Finnish PISA-Studies.
3 See Science Education and Careers 2005 FP6-2005-Science-and-Society-16 – No. 042936 – POPBL – 2006-07-04: School Science Teaching by Project Orientation - Improving the Transition to University and Labour Market for Boys and Girls (POPBL annex 1).
Joseph Priestley and Contemporary Science Curricula Michael R. Matthews, University of New South Wales, Australia
Joseph Priestley was an enormously gifted representative of the 18th-century enlightenment. He was a polymath who made valuable and original contributions across a wide range of subjects - history of science, political theory, theology, biblical criticism, theory of language, philosophy of education, rhetoric as well as the better known fields of electricity and chemistry in science. A common feature of contemporary science education curricula is the expectation that as well as learning science content, students will learn something about science – its nature, its history, and its interactions with culture and society. These cultural goals can be advanced by incorporating study of the life, times and achievements of Joseph Priestley into science programmes. In such programmes students can learn that:
1. Philosophical thought, or worldviews, have an impact on scientific thinking.
2. Scientific discoveries are difficult and have social and technical components.
3. There are epistemological, psychological and social elements involved in changing major scientific theories.
4. The Scientific Revolution gave birth to the European Enlightenment.
5. How an important scientist and Enlightenment figure understood scientific habits of mind and how he applied them to pressing questions of religion, politics, and philosophy that still resonate in the 21st century.
Sessions 3.1.4
Assessing the Development of Critical Thinking in Greece through an Approach of Teaching
Science to Primary School Students which Incorporates Aspects of History of Science Katerina Malamitsa, Panagiotis Kokkotas, Michael Kasoutas, & Efthymios Stamoulis, Faculty of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
In this paper we try to define critical thinking by analyzing it in terms congruent to education and we discuss about the importance of intergrading aspects of History of Science in science education in an attempt to shape a proposal for teaching science in a way that best promotes critical thinking skills and deep learning. Specifically in our research the Galvani – Volta controversy was taught to Greek primary school students of the sixth grade. Furthermore we translated and standardized for Greek population “The Test of Everyday Reasoning (TER)” (Facione, 2001) which targets the core critical thinking skills identified in “Delphi Report” consensus in order to assess the development of critical thinking skills. Our sample was students of the 6th grade of Greek primary school who participated in a properly designed teaching project. Results from the above mentioned assessment are presented which we assume they have important implications for science teaching.
Integrating the Nature of Science into Middle Level Secondary Science Instruction Jerrid Wayne Kruse, LeMars Community Middle School and Iowa State University, U.S.A.
Continually addressing the nature of science within the secondary science classroom is necessary to promote conceptual change. However, with so much “content” to be covered teachers often place the nature of science in an isolated unit and rarely note contextualized examples of the nature of science during the rest of the year. This practice seems dangerous considering the implicit messages always present about the nature of science within the science classroom. I will present decontextual, contextual, and historical strategies I use within my 7th and 9th grade classrooms to integrate the nature of science throughout the entire year. I will discuss pedagogical considerations as well as successes and struggles I have encountered trying to accurately and explicitly portray and assess the nature of science with middle level students.
Understanding the Nature of Science through College Introductory Biology Bridget Gray Tuberty & Pradeep Maxwell Dass, Appalachian State University, U.S.A.
Although an important part of scientific literacy, most students hold misconceptions regarding the nature of science (NOS). We investigated the influence of a non-majors’ introductory biology course on college students’ understanding of NOS in the context of instructor’s NOS conceptions and instructional practices. Five instructors and 287 students were administered Views on Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS) questionnaire. Students took VOSTS as pre-post test. All instructors and selected students were interviewed to corroborate VOSTS responses. Selected class sessions of all instructors were video recorded and transcribed to document instructional styles and communication of NOS. Results indicate that in some areas of NOS the course impacted the students negatively, in others there was no impact, while in still others the impact varied by instructor. Whether negative or positive, several instances indicate that the course did impact student understanding. Hence, the instructors’ role in influencing students’ NOS literacy is evident and merits further exploration.
Facilitating Conceptual Change through Historical Dialogues: The Case of Teaching about Heat
and Temperature Chun-Ming Wu, National Hsin-Chu University of Education, Taiwan
In this study, five historical dialogues about heat and temperature that involve many different perspectives between key scientists of the past were developed with the intent of facilitating students’ conceptual learning. The sample consisted of 32 fifth-grade students in a class of an elementary school. The historical dialogues were integrated into the teaching unit on “Heat and Temperature “which last for 6weeks (24 periods, each 40 minutes). Pre-post testing, classroom observation, and student interview were used to document the effectiveness of the intervention and to identify the specific problems and difficulties teacher may encounter in using the historical dialogues. Results indicate the use of historical dialogues to facilitate students’ conceptual change to be promising. Specific strengths and weaknesses in using historical dialogues to promote students’ conceptual learning are discussed.
Simulative Modeling in Physics and Access to Reality: From Aspects of Research Practices to
Solutions for Education Ismo Koponen, Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
Simulative modelling is an extensively used in physics research, and it has many interesting implications concerning the modelling in physics education. Foremost, the knowledge produced by simulative modelling comes in the form of instrumentally reliable computational models rather than in form models having a close similarity with real systems. Through the instrumentally reliable models, simulative modelling can act as a cognitive tool bridging the conceptual reality and real phenomena, achieved through mutual fitting of simulations and experiments. In that process of fitting, the mimetic similarity of simulations and experiments acquire a central epistemological role. In the core of simulative modelling is the creative use of theoretical as well as empirical elements of modelling, explorative manipulation of real conditions to fit the models, and in addition, creative use of analogies from diverse areas of physics in constructing the models. Such modelling activity supports well constructively oriented and creative teaching solutions.
Simulation: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Committee on Pesticides, 1963 Douglas Allchin, Program in History of Science, Technology & Medicine, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.
One way to engage students in contextual problem-solving is through simulation. Here, I present a historically based activity on science in society: on the use of pesticides and the emergence of environmentalism in public policy. The case situates students on a Presidential commission asked to evaluate Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1963 and make policy recommendations. Major issues include: scientific expertise and credibility, plant-herbivore interactions, economics, physiology of poisons, ecological interactions, food chains, food safety, worker safety, evolution and insecticide resistance, predator-prey interactions and biological control, and the ethics of control of nature and balance of nature, as well as gender and science.
Sessions 3.1.6
Models of Science and Scientists in the Literature, and Among Contemporary Learners Varda Bar & Pazit Koren, Science Education Department, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Models of science and scientists were investigated during the last 50 years among learners, pre-service teachers and acting teachers, most of them concerning the scientist's appearance, social abilities and characteristics. Some studies examined student’s perceptions of the role of scientific achievements in society, values and the connections between the scientific community and the government. This study is unique in checking these relationships, pointing at the threat or progress of science and technology as perceived through the classical literature, and comparing them to contemporary learners' views. It was found that most of the images of science in these classical creations and among the learners criticize the science and the scientists and rise many ethical problems regarding the scientific endeavor. Literature studies also the effect of science on the emotions of the scientist and his audiences during the history.
Develop a Place-based Science Curriculum in Tribe for Aboriginal Pupils in Taiwan. Chiung-Fen Yen, Department of Ecology, Providence University, Taiwan. Miao-Hui Lin, Department of Early Childhood Education, National University of Tainan, Taiwan. Huei Lee, Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Hualien University, Taiwan
Based on current philosophy of science, it has become the research mainstream by the multicultural viewpoint from cultural and the place characteristic improvement aboriginal science teaching. Because place-based education suits with that idea, and it is specifically feasible therefore is regarded as importantly. We accessing the place-based approach and the suggestion by Ogawa inquired into the indigenous knowledge (IK) hold by aborigines, applying to design curriculum, expected produce new knowledge of science that contains the viewpoint of aboriginal culture. In eastern and middle Taiwan, we participant in four tribes with elder and person who understand the locality, each elementary school develops one or two instructional units. We finding that the aborigines exists the special viewpoint to the nature is not inferior to the western modern science (WMS), integrated WMS and IK could to promote the aboriginal pupils’ science learning, but the traditional culture gradually drains is the major difficulty factor.
Cultural Pedagogy and Effective Science Teaching Timothy J. Glaude, Xavier University of Louisiana, U.S.A.
An examination of how science instructions are impacted by the sociological nature of the learner and the cultural astuteness of the teacher. When students bring their “history’ into the classroom, what impact does this have on their scientific reasoning abilities? Equally, when teachers permeate their “history” into the teaching and learning process, what impact does this have on the cultural sensitivity or insensitivity of the teacher? Addressing the “history gaps” between teachers and students will help to formulate the model paradigm for effective science instructions.
Sessions 3.1.7
Mathematics, Science and Art: Contextual, Historical, and Philosophical Connections for
Contemporary Research and Pedagogy--II
Mathematical Connections in the New Brunswick Notebook Computer Project: Solving Real-
World Problems by Grade 7-8 Francophone Schoolchildren Viktor Freiman, Dominic Manuel, Nicole Lirette-Pitre, Sylvie Blain, Carole Essiembre, & Jacinthe Beauchamp, University of Moncton, Canada
How mathematics can be useful for Middle School students solving complex scientific problems? How these students are integrating different ICT (Information Communication Teachnology) resources available from the classroom 1:1 access to the laptops? What are the teaching and learning issues? Or presentation will feature on the first results obtained from the New Brunswick Notebook Computer Project within which students from 8 experimental classes were asked to solve a real-world science problem by mean of four problem-based learning scenarios. We will analyze data from classroom observations, students' electronic portfolios, videos, interviews, and reflective notes made by students, teachers, and ICT mentors.
Design Science Perspectives in Mathematics and Science Education Classroom Research Claus Michelsen, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Bharath Sriraman, University of Montana, U.S.A.
Design science perspectives in mathematics education developed independently in Europe and USA. We argue for the need of re-conceptualizing research in the domains of science and mathematics education, in order to move beyond the traditional cognitive perspectives on concept development. We propose re-conceptualizing these fields of research as that of a design science akin to engineering and other emerging interdisciplinary fields which involve the interaction of "subjects", conceptual systems and technology influenced by social constraints and affordances. That is, we provide a framework (a system of thinking together with accompanying concepts, language, methodologies, tools, and so on) that provides structure to help mathematics education researchers develop both models and theories, which encourage diversity and emphasize Darwinian processes such as: (a) selection (rigorous testing), (b) communication (so that productive ways of thinking spread throughout relevant communities), and (c) accumulation (so that productive ways of thinking are not lost and get integrated into future developments).
Mathematics, Science and Art: Contextual, Historical, and Philosophical Connections for
Contemporary Research and Pedagogy--III
Meta aspects of science in problem based project work
- experiences from Roskilde University Tinne Hoff Kjeldsen, Roskilde University, Denmark
The meta-perspectives of mathematics and science form an integrated part of the two-year introductory study programme in the natural sciences at Roskilde University. This programme is characterised by its problem based, interdisciplinary project work. Meta-perspectives are taught through the 'reflectionproject', where students experience science as a cultural and social phenomenon by asking and investigating meta-questions. The paper illustrates how this project work can unite students' metareflections about science with their learning of important subject-matter. This is exemplified by means of a project in which a group of students investigated the premises for a discussion between the physicist Nicolas Rashevsky and some biologists in 1934 about the usefulness of mathematical methods to explain cell division.
Simulative Modeling in Physics and Access to Reality: From Aspects of Research Practices to
Solutions for Education Ismo T. Koponen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Simulative modelling is an extensively used in physics research, and it has many interesting implications concerning the modelling in physics education. Foremost, the knowledge produced by simulative modelling comes in the form of instrumentally reliable computational models rather than in form models having a close similarity with real systems. Through the instrumentally reliable models, simulative modelling can act as a cognitive tool bridging the conceptual reality and real phenomena, achieved through mutual fitting of simulations and experiments. In that process of fitting, the mimetic similarity of simulations and experiments acquire a central epistemological role. In the core of simulative modelling is the creative use of theoretical as well as empirical elements of modelling, explorative manipulation of real conditions to fit the models, and in addition, creative use of analogies from diverse areas of physics in constructing the models. Such modelling activity supports well constructively oriented and creative teaching solutions.
The Philosophy of Models and Modeling Involving Complex Systems Bharath Sriraman, University of Montana, U.S.A.
In this paper I outline the philosophy of the models and modeling perspectives of learning. The paper is based on the Taoist premise that the true structure of things is irreducible to formal statements, propositions or rules. Examples and paradoxes from the natural and physical sciences are used to support the models and modeling philosophy of learning. I also delve into the notion of operational definitions for researching learning that occurs in models-modeling involving complex systems and present an example of an activity that illustrates the thesis of this paper.
International Pendulum Project
(EDT 502)
Chair: Art Stinner, University of Manitoba, Canada
Discussants: Don Metz, University of Winnipeg, Canada Fabio Bevilacqua, Department of Physics “Alessandro Volta”, Università di Pavia, Italy Agustin Aduriz-Bravo, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Argentina Robert Carson, Montana State University, U.S.A.
The pendulum is a universal topic in primary and secondary schools, but its full potential for learning about physics, the nature of science, and the relationships between science, mathematics, technology, society and culture is seldom realised. The session will examine how aspects of this important and engaging pendulum story can be productively incorporated in school and teacher education programmes. One presentation, by Don Metz of the University of Winnipeg, will describe a new pendulum-based 14week senior science module being developed for the province of Manitoba in Canada. Discussants will provide their works together with Dr. Metz’ as the anchor for questions.
Sessions 3.2.3
Symposium: Aesthetic Experience in Science Education: Learning and Meaning-Making as
Situated Talk and Action
Chair: Dr. Michael Matthews, University of New South Wales, Australia
Discussants: Dr. Daniel Meyer, Illinois Institute of Technology, U.S.A. Dr. Wendy Sherman, Kent State University, U.S.A.
Respondent: Dr. Per-Olof Wickman, Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden
A panel discussion of a new book with the above title. This book examines the role of aesthetic experience in learning science and in science education from the perspective of knowledge as action and language use. The theoretical underpinnings are based on the writings of John Dewey and Ludwig Wittgenstein. In their spirit aesthetics is examined as it appears in the lives of people and how it relates to the activities in which they are involved. Centered around an empirical analysis of how students and their teachers use aesthetic language and acts during laboratory and field work, the book demonstrates that aesthetics is something that is constantly talked about in science class and that these aesthetic experiences are intimately involved in learning science. These empirical findings are related to current debates about the relation between aesthetics and science, and about motivation, participation, learning and socio-cultural issues in science education. This book features:
- An empirical demonstration of the importance and specific roles of aesthetic experiences in learning science;
- A novel contribution to the current debate on how to understand motivation, participation and learning; and
- A new methodology of studying learning in action.
Sessions 3.2.4
Symposium: The Use of Narrative as a Pedagogical Tool for Teaching the History of Science
Developing Pre-Service Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge through the Use of
Narratives Rick Connor, University of New South Wales, Australia
The New South Wales secondary science curriculum consists of three domains; knowledge and understanding, skills and prescribed focus areas. The prescribed focus areas cover the history of science, nature of science, current research and societal impacts. Similar to findings in much of the literature, many of the pre-service teachers entering the course have less developed understanding of science concepts outside their chosen major and little exposure in their undergraduate course to aspects of the prescribed focus areas. The science teacher pre-service course at UNSW is structured around developing the prospective teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. Students are required to consider throughout the course their preparedness to teach science concepts in the curriculum from the point of view of their existing conceptual knowledge and through the choice of appropriate teaching strategies. By having the students choose a narrative that highlights a prescribed focus area, both “what” to teach and “how” to teach are simultaneously developed. This presentation describes strategies employed by the educator in this pre-service course and gives examples of student choices of narratives for discussion.
Using Interactive Vignettes in the Teaching of the Mole Concept in Senior 3 Chemistry Heather Teller, Fort Richmond Collegiate, Winnipeg, Canada
Despite success solving stoichiometric problems, students often do not demonstrate an understanding of the underlying concepts in senior high chemistry, nor do they find their classes interesting because they have relied upon rote memorization of facts and algorithms. This is particularly true for the fundamental concept of the mole. Research suggests that integrating history into the teaching of chemistry helps showcase it as an interesting and dynamic topic, and promotes student learning. Our research investigated the impact of “interactive vignettes” on students’ understanding of the mole, and their interest in chemistry. Ten interactive vignettes, following the history of the mole, were presented to a Chemistry 30S class. The application of a validated student attitude test (TOSRA) showed a resulting increase in interest towards chemistry leisure, chemistry careers, and openness to new ideas. However, students’ academic scores showed no significant increase in their understanding of the mole. Overall, the interactive vignettes offered students an in-depth view of how science progresses over time. Furthermore, the knowledge of the historical information presented in the vignettes may allow educators to approach the topic of the mole in a way that captures their students’ interest and enables them to better understand the mole concept.
The Electric Café: An Experiment in the Use of Fictional Narrative as a Vehicle for the
Contextual Teaching of Science Dan Wright, Fort Richmond Collegiate, Winnipeg, Canada
Researchers and practitioners have long recognized the benefits derived from a contextual approach to teaching. Creating activities that naturally integrate the various types and degrees of context can be challenging. Finding ways for students to truly identify with historical precedents and personalities is just as daunting. The goal is to use the history of science to teach science. This paper promotes fictional narrative as a means to achieve that goal. It introduces an original short story, entitled The Electric Café, and describes its use in the teaching of senior-years physics. It relates the experiences that led the author to consider fictional narrative as the preferred vehicle for contextual teaching. The paper includes samples of students’ work extracted from the “Student Journal”, a companion to the story. It concludes by advocating the creation of a protocol that educators would reference when creating fictional narratives for their science teaching. Such a protocol would help ensure that science and history are faithfully and factually represented, and that artistic license is invoked discriminately.
Sessions 3.2.5
A Progressive Sequence of Theatre Techniques for Teaching Science Paris Papadopoulos and Fanny Seroglou, School of Primary Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Our research focuses on the use of theatre techniques as an instructional tool in teaching science in primary school within the context of scientific literacy. A teaching course on weather phenomena has been designed and developed consisting of a progressive sequence of theatre techniques such as pantomime, the expert’s robe, role-play, the expert’s chair, debate, and trials of historic characters. The course has been attended by 10-year-old pupils in primary school. The qualitative data analysis of the videotaped sessions provides key-ideas concerning the potential as well as the limitations of using theatre techniques for teaching science. In our interpretation of the data a three dimensional cognitive, meta-cognitive and emotional framework has been used coupled with the theory of multiple intelligence.
Wasn’t Science Always Fun!: The Changing Discourse in Children’s Non-fiction Science Trade
Books from 1960 to the Present Dawn Sutherland, University of Winnipeg, Canada
In early years science education children’s science trade books are often the resource of choice for use in science class instruction and science fair projects. These books are an historical lens from which to examine the perceptions of science during different decades. The objective of this study was to compare the definition and portrayal of science in children’s non-fiction science trade books beginning in 1960. The guiding question was: To what extent are relativist definitions and portrayals of science present in each decade? In this study a total of 77 science trade books that contained a definition of science were analyzed for their description of science and science processes. It is clear from this analysis that references to context, applied science and motivation and interest are prevalent in the last two decades of children’s science trade books. It is suggested in this study that this increase is a result of constructivist frameworks in literacy and science education. The impact and suggestions for teachers is discussed in the remainder of the paper.
The Feature of Science Education to Refer to Style of the Science Textbooks in the
Enlightenment Period in Korea Jongseok Park, Kyungpook National University, Korea
The enlightenment period in Korea can be understood as a process of modernization which is related with modern modernization and technical civilization from the West. The 42 science textbook published in this period are unearthed and classified by style to refer to Lynch and Strube. Using their classification, the science textbooks in the enlightenment period are seen to be Experimentalist and Formalist. Most of the science textbooks were theoretical emphasizing the structure of learning. A few were practical dealing with everyday and vocational matters. Although the science textbooks of the enlightenment period were organized in the same way as modern textbooks, the classification of subjects differed from that used in modern books. Therefore it was difficult for students either to make generalization from their knowledge, or to increase their ability to investigate by themselves. This was a result of the science textbooks being compiled passively from the Japanese textbooks by compilers who were not specialists in the subjects. These textbooks could be used to teach the basic science knowledge at that time but they did little to foster practical science and did not form a basis for becoming an independent learner of science.
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