Science educators and those who investigate science learning have tended, for good reason, to focus their attention on students' conceptual development, Such a focus is, however, too narrow to provide full and proper understanding of the complexities of original science learning. Recently developmental cognitive psychologists have called on the work of postpositivistic philosophers of science, especially Thomas Kuhn, to bolster their research into conceptual development in science acquisition. What these psychologists have not recognized is that (...) Kuhn's position is actually a derivative of Wittgenstein's methodological nominalism, a viewpoint far more favorable to behaviorism than cognitive psychology. After drawing out some of the consequences of this fact for the developmental cognitive psychologist program for studying science learning, we suggest our own radical alternative. Drawing on Floden, Buchmann and Schwille's idea of “Breaking with Everyday Experience” we propose an alternative notion of original science learning in terms of Alfred Schutz's modification of Williams James' many worlds thesis. The many worlds thesis will allow us to better understand students' difficulty in learning idealized worlds such as science, worlds that represent a discontinuous break with ordinary everyday practical experience. (shrink)

Mentalities like scientism and relativism idealise or belittle science respectively, and thus hurt science education and our literacy. However, it seems very hard to avoid the former mentality without sliding to the latter, and vise versa. I will suggest that part of what makes balancing between the two so difficult, is a representational account of meaning that science educators, like most of us really, usually endorse. Scientism then, arises from the assumption that ​there is such a (...) thing called science​. Relativism, on the other hand, assumes that ​there is no such thing called science,t​hereisnorealmeaningattachedtotheterm​.Wittgenstein'sremarksonrule-following then, could help us escape this twofold danger. Addressing scientism, Wittgensteinian writings remind us that, in order to understand the sciences, we do not need to point to some mental referendum of what science is. We rather need to grasp a matrix of overlapping, often implicit, always evolving rules that govern scientific practices. Addressing relativism, Wittgenstein's comments help us realise that there are always certain criteria about what kinds of things we call by a name; there are rules governing scientific practices, rules that even though they may be context dependent or evolving, are always in play. (shrink)

This anthology contains selected papers from the 'Science as Culture' conference held at Lake Como, and Pavia University Italy, 15-19 September 1999. The conference, attended by about 220 individuals from thirty countries, was a joint venture of the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group (its fifth conference) and the History of Physics and Physics Teaching Division of the European Physical Society (its eighth conference). The magnificient Villa Olmo, on the lakeshore, provided a memorable location for the presentors (...) of the 160 papers and the audience that discussed them. The conference was part of local celebrations of the bicentenary of Alessandro Volta's creation of the battery in 1799. Volta was born in Como in 1745, and for forty years from 1778 he was professor of experimental physics at Pavia University. The conference was fortunate to have had the generous financial support of the Italian government's Volta Bicentenary Fund, Lombardy region, Pavia University, Italian Research Council, and Kluwer Academic Publishers. The papers included here, have or will be, published in the journal Science & Education, the inaugural volume (1992) of which was a landmark in the history of science education publication, because it was the first journal in the field devoted to contributions from historical, philosophical and sociological scholarship. Clearly these 'foundational' disciplines inform numerous theoretical, curricular and pedagogical debates in science education. Contemporary Concerns The reseach promoted by the International and European Groups, and by the journal, is central to science education programmes in most areas of the world. (shrink)

In this essay, I argue that Roy Bhaskar's philosophy of meta‐Reality creates the middle way to theorize emancipation in critical science education: between empiricism and idealism on the one hand, and naïve realism and relativism, on the other hand. This theorization offers possibilities to transcend the usual dichotomies and dualisms that are often perpetuated in some feminist and multiculturalist accounts of critical science education. Further, meta‐Reality suggests a radically new way to re‐visit the suspect notion of (...) emancipation. The implications for critical science education are discussed. (shrink)

Both science and ethics are embedded in cultural traditions where truths are shared through education; both need competent critics educated within such traditions. Education in both ought to be directed although moral education demands levels of responsible agency that science education does not. Evolutionary science often carries an implicit or explicit understanding of who and what humans are, one which may not be coherent with the implicit or explicit human self‐understanding in moral (...) class='Hi'>education. The latter in turn may not be coherent with classical human self‐understandings. Moral education may enlighten and elevate the human nature that has evolved biologically. (shrink)

Science education and moral education are mutually relevant. An education in science provides the factual information necessary to apply and revise ethical principles. In addition, science education aims to achieve certain propensities, e.g. impartiality, that are identical to some of the goals of moral education. Moral education, in turn, gives potential scientists the necessary principles and propensities to make certain decisions in the context of discovery, in the acceptance of hypotheses and (...) in the conduct of inquiry. Science education and moral education can be combined in various ways although some recent theories of moral education, e.g. the values clarification approach, and Matthew Lipman's philosophy for children approach, have neglected the potential of science education for moral education. (shrink)

Primary Science Education: A Teacher's Toolkit is an accessible and comprehensive guide to primary school science education and its effective practice in the classroom. Primary Science Education is structured in two parts: Planning for Science and Primary Science in the Classroom. Each chapter covers fundamental topics, such as: curriculum requirements (including the Australian Curriculum and Australian Professional Standards for Teachers); preparing effective learning sequences with embedded authentic assessment; combining science learning with (...) other learning areas, such as technologies and STEM; and critically analysing the teacher's role in the classroom. The text features short-answer and 'Bringing it Together' questions to encourage readers to consolidate their understanding of key themes. Case studies throughout provide guidance on the classroom experience and Teacher Background Information boxes explore topics where more in-depth knowledge is required. The book is supported by a suite of online resources, including interviews with Australian primary teachers and students, and downloadable activities. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This essay argues that science education can gain from close engagement with the history of science both in the training of prospective vocational scientists and in educating the broader public about the nature of science. First it shows how historicizing science in the classroom can improve the pedagogical experience of science students and might even help them turn into more effective professional practitioners of science. Then it examines how historians of science (...) can support the scientific education of the general public at a time when debates over “intelligent design” are raising major questions over the kind of science that ought to be available to children in their school curricula. It concludes by considering further work that might be undertaken to show how history of science could be of more general educational interest and utility, well beyond the closed academic domains in which historians of science typically operate. (shrink)

Science education remains vulnerable to a persistent separation between formal school knowledge and the practical, cultural, linguistic, ecological, and technological knowledge that learners and communities already possess. This conceptual article develops a publishable theoretical synthesis that connects three bodies of scholarship: funds of knowledge, cultural memory banking, and glocalized experiential learning. Drawing from González’s treatment of culture as hybrid and dynamic, Handa and Tippins’s use of cultural memory banking in Philippine preservice science teacher education, and Hammond’s (...) anthropological model of urban science education for language-minority families, the article proposes the Community Memory–Glocalized Experiential Learning (CM-GEL) model. The model positions community knowledge not as decorative cultural content but as an epistemic resource for designing science instruction, health education, environmental learning, and inclusive educational technologies. The framework proceeds through six recursive movements: ethical entry, dialogic elicitation, memory banking, curriculum translation, experiential enactment, and community return. The article also situates the model within Nagal’s body of glocalized educational work, including experiential learning resource packages, science modules, public health IEC material development, sexuality education, Indigenous learning barriers, and assistive technology. The model contributes a practical and ethical pathway for teachers and curriculum developers who seek to bridge school science, lived experience, and community benefit without reducing local knowledge to extractive academic data. (shrink)

Diese Studie bietet eine systematische Zusammenfassung der empirischen Forschungen in der Science Education, der internationalen Didaktik der Naturwissenschaften. Dieses Forschungsfeld hat seit einiger Zeit einen großen Einfluss auf die deutschen Fachdidaktiken und auf das Verständnis von Didaktik generell. Das gesamte Feld der Science Education wird methodisch durchsucht, geordnet und analysiert. Für Didaktiker an Universitäten, Lehrer an Schulen und Schüler, die ihr eigenes Lernen strukturieren möchten, entsteht so ein umfassender Überblick. Diese Orientierung im Feld ermöglicht es auch, (...) die deutschen Didaktiken kritisch einzuschätzen und in ihren Entwicklungen zu diskutieren. (shrink)

Explores the teaching and learning of issues relating to the impact of science in society. This title offers practical guidance in devising learning goals and suitable learning and assessment strategies. It helps teachers to provide students with the skills and understanding needed to address these multi-faceted issues.

This article intends to show that the defense of “understanding” as one of the major goals of science education can be grounded on an anti-reductionist perspective on testimony as a source of knowledge. To do so, we critically revisit the discussion between Harvey Siegel and Alvin Goldman about the goals of science education, especially where it involves arguments based on the epistemology of testimony. Subsequently, we come back to a discussion between Charbel N. El-Hani and Eduardo (...) Mortimer, on the one hand, and Michael Hoffmann, on the other, striving to strengthen the claim that rather than students’ belief change, understanding should have epistemic priority as a goal of science education. Based on these two lines of discussion, we conclude that the reliance on testimony as a source of knowledge is necessary to the development of a more large and comprehensive scientific understanding by science students. (shrink)

This book brings researchers from across the world to share their expertise, experience, research and reflections on science education in India to make the trends and innovations visible. The thematic parts of the book discuss science education: overviews across K-16 levels; inclusivity and access for underrepresented and marginalized sections; use of innovations including technology in the teaching; and implications for research, practice, innovation and creativity. The book should be of special interest to researchers, school administrators, curriculum (...) designers and policymakers. A timely compilation for current and future generations of academic researchers, teachers and policymakers who are interested in examining the issues facing one of the largest education systems in the world. The book offers unique insights into contemporary topics such as girls in STEM subjects, curriculum reform and developing a generation of future creative thinkers. Professor Vaille Dawson, The University of Western Australia, Australia. It provides a panorama of challenges in a country of more than 1.3 billion people, 50% being below the age of 25 years. The book arrives at a time in which there are discouraging trends, including a decrease in funding for education. The book chapters are centred on issues that warrant debate to foster awareness of the roles of science education in India and priorities and possibilities for expanding horizons on the road ahead. Professor Kenneth Tobin, The City University of New York, New York. (shrink)

Constructivism is one of the most influential theories in contemporary education and learning theory. It has had great influence in science education. The papers in this collection represent, arguably, the most sustained examination of the theoretical and philosophical foundations of constructivism yet published. Topics covered include: orthodox epistemology and the philosophical traditions of constructivism; the relationship of epistemology to learning theory; the connection between philosophy and pedagogy in constructivist practice; the difference between radical and social constructivism, and (...) an appraisal of their epistemology; the strengths and weaknesses of the Strong Programme in the sociology of science and implications for science education. The book contains an extensive bibliography. Contributors include philosophers of science, philosophers of education, science educators, and cognitive scientists. The book is noteworthy for bringing this diverse range of disciplines together in the examination of a central educational topic. (shrink)

Declarations of the death knell of postmodernism are rather quite commonplace. For its 50th anniversary, The Journal of Educational Philosophy and Theory conducted a philosophical experiment, asking philosophers of education to solicit a comment, argument or position concerning the so-called death of postmodern philosophy. Renia Gasparatou joined this experiment; in this short paper she suggests that, unfortunately, postmodernism is not dead enough!

While calls to integrate ethics into computer science education go back decades, recent high-profile ethical failures related to computing technology by large technology companies, governments, and academic institutions have accelerated the adoption of computer ethics education at all levels of instruction. Discussions of how to integrate ethics into existing computer science programmes often focus on the structure of the intervention—embedded modules or dedicated courses, humanists or computer scientists as ethics instructors—or on the specific content to be (...) included—lists of case studies and essential topics to cover. While proponents of computer ethics education often emphasize the importance of closely connecting ethical and technical content in these initiatives, most do not reflect in depth on the variety of ways in which the disciplines can be combined. In this paper, I deploy a framework from cross- disciplinary studies that categorizes academic projects that work across disciplines as multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary, depending on the degree of integration. When applied to computer ethics education, this framework is orthogonal to the structure and content of the initiative, as I illustrate using examples of dedicated ethics courses and embedded modules. It therefore highlights additional features of cross-disciplinary teaching that need to be considered when planning a computer ethics programme. I argue that computer ethics education should aim to be at least interdisciplinary—multidisciplinary initiatives are less aligned with the pedagogical aims of computer ethics—and that computer ethics educators should experiment with fully transdisciplinary education that could transform computer science as a whole for the better. (shrink)

Understanding the nature of science is conducive to establishing a correct view of science and understanding the connotation of science education and the nature of scientific inquiry. This study aims to contextualize the philosophy of science education from China’s perspective. The value, goal, and content of science humanistic education, experience in China’s science education, and regionalization for promoting the development of science education in schools have been explored in (...) this study. In addition, both the challenges facing science education and countermeasures of science education have also been offered in the last. (shrink)

Over the past decades, science education researchers have suggested Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) teaching interventions for science classes. In this article, we argue that IBSE’s basic principles can be traced back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s work Emile or On Education (1762). First, we will look at IBSE’s rationale. Then we will turn to Emile and outline Rousseau’s educational ideas concerning science education. We will show that Rousseau’s suggested practices for science education (...) are very similar to those of IBSE. Yet despite their vivid similarities, Rousseau seems to pursue epistemic virtues, whilst IBSE aims at epistemic skills. However, nurturing epistemic skills might be seen as the first step for cultivating an epistemically virtuous character. So, embracing Rousseau’s ideal for full character development could further inspire IBSE’s proposals. (shrink)

Science teaching always engages a philosophy of science. This article introduces a modern philosophy of science and indicates its implications for science education. The hermeneutic philosophy of science is the tradition of Kant, Heidegger, and Heelan. Essential to this tradition are two concepts of truth, truth as correspondence and truth as disclosure. It is these concepts that enable access to science in and of itself. Modern science forces aspects of reality to reveal (...) themselves to human beings in events of disclosure. The achievement of each event of disclosure requires the precise manipulation of equipment, which is an activity that depends on truth as correspondence. The implications of the hermeneutic philosophy of science for science education are profound. The article refers to Newton’s early work on optics to explore what the theory implies for teaching. Modern science—as the event of truth—is a relationship between an individual student, equipment, and reality. Science teachers provide for their students’ access to truth and they may show how their discipline holds a special relationship to reality. If the aim of science teaching is to enable students to disclose reality, the science curriculum will challenge some of the current practices of schooling. If teachers base science teaching upon the hermeneutic philosophy of science, science will assert itself as the intellectual discipline that derives from nature, and not from the inclinations of human beings. Science teachers teach nature’s own science. (shrink)

Although postmodernist thought has become prominent in some educational circles, its influence on science education has until recently been rather minor. This paper examines the proposal of Michalinos Zembylas, published earlier in this journal, that Lyotardian postmodernism should be applied to science educational reform in order to achieve the much sought after positive transformation. As a preliminary to this examination several critical points are raised about Lyotard's philosophy of education and philosophy of science which serve (...) to challenge and undermine Zembylas’ project. Subsequently, the three main theses of Lyotard that Zembylas considers beneficial and wishes to transpose onto science classrooms and pedagogy are scrutinized and found to be more of a hindrance than a help to curriculum reformers. (shrink)

This article intends to show that the defense of ‘‘understanding’’ as one of the major goals of science education can be grounded on an anti-reductionist perspective on testimony as a source of knowledge. To do so, we critically revisit the discussion between Harvey Siegel and Alvin Goldman about the goals of science education, especially where it involves arguments based on the epistemology of testimony. Subsequently, we come back to a discussion between Charbel N. El-Hani and Eduardo (...) Mortimer, on the one hand, and Michael Hoffmann, on the other, striving to strengthen the claim that rather than students’ belief change, understanding should have epistemic priority as a goal of science education. Based on these two lines of discussion, we conclude that the reliance on testimony as a source of knowledge is necessary to the development of a more large and comprehensive scientific understanding by science students. (shrink)

INTRODUCTION What relevance — if any — does philosophy of science have for science education? Unfortunately, this question has been largely unexplored. ...

In this paper, I utilise key postcolonial perspectives on multiculturalism and boundaries to reconsider some of science education's scholarship on cultural diversity in order to extend the discourses and methodologies of science education. I begin with a brief overview of postcolonialism that argues its ability to offer theoretical insights to help revise science education's philosophical frameworks in the face of the newly intercivilisational encounters of contemporaneity. I then describe the constructs of multiculturalism, and borders (...) and ‘border thinking’ that become useful to develop postcolonial readings as an active methodology of critique able to intervene and develops more revealing interpretations of some of science education's scholarship and differentiated experiences. As the focus of these interventions, I have selected to discuss Cobern and Loving's ‘Defining “Science” in a Multicultural World: Implications for science education’ and Siegel's ‘Multiculturalism, Universalism and Science Education: In search of common ground’ from the ongoing discussion on multiculturalism and cultural diversity within the journal Science Education. Finally, I conclude this paper with some general comments regarding postcolonialism and the science education scholarship on cultural diversity. (shrink)

This book discusses how we can inspire today's youth to engage in challenging and productive discussions around the past, present and future role of animals in science education. Animals play a large role in the sciences and science education and yet they remain one of the least visible topics in the educational literature. This book is intended to cultivate research topics, conversations, and dispositions for the ethical use of animals in science and education. This (...) book explores the vital role of animals with/in science education, specimens, protected species, and other associated issues with regards to the role of animals in science. Topics explored include ethical, curriculum and pedagogical dimensions, involving invertebrates, engineering solutions that contribute to ecosystems, the experiences of animals under our care, aesthetic and contemplative practices alongside science, school-based ethical dialogue, nature study for promoting inquiry and sustainability, the challenge of whether animals need to be used for science whatsoever, reconceptualizing museum specimens, cultivating socioscientific issues and epistemic practice, cultural integrity and citizen science, the care and nurturance of gender-balanced curriculum choices for science education, and theoretical conversations around cultivating critical thinking skills and ethical dispositions. The diverse authors in this book take on the logic of domination and symbolic violence embodied within the scientific enterprise that has systematically subjugated animals and nature, and emboldened the anthropocentric and exploitative expressions for the future role of animals. At a time when animals are getting excluded from classrooms (too dangerous! too many allergies! too dirty!), this book is an important counterpoint. Interacting with animals helps students develop empathy, learn to care for living things, engage with content. We need more animals in the science curriculum, not less. David Sobel, Senior Faculty, Education Department, Antioch University New England. (shrink)

Two varieties of constructivism are distinguished. In part 1, the psychological or “radical” constructivism of von Glasersfeld is discussed. Despite its dominant influence in science education, radical constructivism has been controversial, with challenges to its principles and practices. In part 2, social constructivism is discussed in the sociology of scientific knowledge. Social constructivism has not been primarily concerned with education but has the most direct consequences in view of its challenge to the most fundamental, traditional assumptions in (...) the philosophy of science and to the practice of science itself. (shrink)

This paper considers two philosophical problems and their relation to science education. The first involves the rationality of science; it is argued here that the traditional view, according to which science is rational because of its adherence to (a non-standard conception of) scientific method, successfully answers one central question concerning science''s rationality. The second involves the aims of education; here it is argued that a fundamental educational aim is the fostering of rationality, or its (...) educational cognate, critical thinking. The ramifications of these two philosophical theses for science education are then considered, and a science education which takes reasons in science as its fundamental feature is sketched. (shrink)

Nastava iz prirodoslovnog područja danas se najčešće temelji na principima konstruktivizma prema kojima djeca trebaju biti aktivni sudionici procesa učenja i izgrađivati svoje znanje na temelju iskustva. Metode i sredstva korištena u nastavi prirodoslovnog područja moraju biti prilagođeni perceptivnim potrebama slijepe djece i djece s oštećenjima vida kako bi im se omogućilo aktivno sudjelovanje u procesu učenja. Cilj ovoga rada je opisati posljednje spoznaje o aktivnom i istraživačkom učenju slijepe djece i djece s oštećenjima vida u nastavi prirodoslovnog područja te (...) otkloniti postojeće zablude. Nadalje, rad predstavlja recentna istraživanja koja ukazuju na prilagođene uspješne i visokokvalitetne odgojno-obrazovne pristupe i metode. S obzirom na navedeno, sadržaj rada bit će od koristi nastavnicima iz prirodoslovnog područja, kao i istraživačima inkluzivnih učionica. (shrink)

The modern day is known as the “post-truth” era, characterized by the widespread dissemination of false information, as well as personal opinions and emotions taking precedence over established facts in public decision-making. For students, as future democratically engaged citizens, to make well-informed science-based decisions on matters of personal health and public policy, they require the knowledge and skills to identify false from accurate scientific information online. In this article, I argue that current school science curriculum are outdated in (...) the context of modern social media and internet-centric media environment, requiring changes in education to successfully prepare students for some of the more pernicious features of the post-truth era. An increased focus on forms of social and digital media literacy, as well as knowledge about how science produces reliable information, are essential content for addressing this issue. It is important to emphasize that focusing on content-based changes alone is not sufficient. Methodological shifts are needed to ensure that the socially embedded aspects of scientific knowledge production and the application of knowledge in socio-political contexts are taught and communicated in ways that allows students to effectively employ their content-based education. (shrink)

As a science teacher-educator and learner, the first author feels that the domination of traditional outcome-based science education focuses on structural task performance. She also experienced transitional and transformational outcome-based education, guided by a success-based philosophy and outcome-based practice for unstructured and complex task performance (Spady & Marshall, Citation1991), in her STEAM educational journey, culminating in an MPhil (and PhD). These diverse learning cultures create a disorienting dilemma in her mind. In this context, she aims to (...) enrich STEAM-based epistemic inclusion for transformational outcome-based science education. The paper revolves around the key question: How could STEAM-based inclusive science education be enriched, thereby envisioning the Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva epistemology for developing transformative professional identities? She applied critical-hermeneutic Bildung as a referent for viewing the classroom practice through a democratic and emancipatory view of society (Sjöström & Eilks, Citation2020). The first author discusses the role of STEAM education as/for content and pedagogical inclusion in science teacher education, thereby envisioning the Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva epistemology. This integral perspective focuses on inclusive reasoning for unstructured and complex task performance through developing transformative identities of science teacher educators and prospective science teachers who can act as creators, preservers, and annihilators. This conceptual paper, emerging fromher doctoral research, seeks to offer a local epistemological approach (similar to Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva) for enhancing life-role functioning in science education. (shrink)

Derek Hodson; Philosophy of Science and Science Education, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 20, Issue 2, 30 May 2006, Pages 215–225, https://doi.org/1.

In a recent contribution to Learning for Democracy, Richard Bailey argues that Thomas Kuhn advocated an indoctrinatory model of science education, which is fundamentally authority-based. While agreeing with Bailey’s conclusion, this article suggests that Kuhn was attempting to solve an important problem which Bailey only touches on – how to ensure that science students do not become hypercritical. It continues by offering a critical rationalist solution to this problem, arguing that paradigms qua exemplars should be historical problem-solving (...) episodes, rather than model solutions to puzzles. (shrink)

In this article, I introduce Robert Brandom’s inferentialism as an alternative to common representational interpretations of constructivism in science education. By turning our attention away from the representational role of conceptual contents and toward the norms governing their use in inferences, we may interpret knowledge as a capacity to engage in a particular form of social activity, the game of giving and asking for reasons. This capacity is not readily reduced to a diagrammatic structure defining the knowledge to (...) be acquired. By considering the application of these ideas to the concept of electrical current and the use of analogies in science education, I hope to illustrate how they may be given practical employment as the child comes to explore within the concepts derived from historical scientific endeavours and not merely meander through her individual experiences of scientific phenomena themselves. In moving away from the representational role of analogy, our focus shifts from the quality of the analogy itself toward the quality of the discourse utilising the analogy. (shrink)