The Role of NOS in a High School/Secondary Distance Learning Program for Adults Ana Claudia Coulo, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
The distribution of material and symbolic goods in our societies is still under the burden of inequality. Education is not proof against this situation. Access to quality education is not guaranteed for everyone. In Buenos Aires, in 2001, the Census figures showed 674.000 men and women (that is a 32% of the city population) that had not been able to achieve high-school/secondary level education. In this paper I will present Adultos 2000, a distance-learning Program of high-school/secondary studies meant for people over 21, who have not been able to finish their studies in the usual time span. We will briefly discuss the contextual/liberal approach to science teaching, and the attaining of scientific literacy for all, with special regards to the role of NOS and Philosophy of Science content in this approach. Thena we will outline some Science and Philosophy teaching strategies implemented in this Program that are drawn from this contextual/liberal approach commitment.
Using the Age of Discovery to Teach Biological Classification and Enhance High School
Students’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science Ami J. Friedman, Wayne State University, U.S.A.
This paper relates the impact of one lesson from a historically based unit on biological classification that was part of a study investigating high school Biology students’ conceptions of the nature of science. This lesson simulated gender roles during the Age of Discovery, eliciting students’ ideas of what it means to do science and how society influences science. Qualitative data in the form of individual interviews, artifacts, audio tapes, journal entries, and field notes were collected from one class of high school Biology students throughout this lesson. Analysis showed that the Age of Discovery lesson appealed to students’ prior-instructional views of science and added two other facets to their understanding (social influences on science and different views involved in doing science). This research informs about the impact of using historical perspectives to teach scientific content in high school Biology classes.
The Effects of Two Different Approaches Helping Students Achieving the Unpacking
Competency Indicators Concerning the Nature of Science Sang-Chong Lieu & L.H. Wu, Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Hualien University of Education
The study intended to compare the impacts of two different teaching approaches helping students achieve the unpacking competency indicators in the national standards concerning the nature of science (NOS-CI). The researcher chose two NOS-CIs as the teaching goals. Through students’ using scientific vocabularies and drawing pictures, it may reflect students’ achievement upon the NOS-CI. Subjects were two classes of fourth graders with a nonequivalent pretest-posttest control group design. There were 29 students in the experimental class (with checklist plus digital camera, CDC) and 30 students in the control class (with mere hands-on operation, MHO). Twelve students from each group were interviewed. The results of this study showed that, both CDC and MHO treatments had significant teaching effects upon students’ NOS-CI achievement. However, CDC remained a significant effect while MHO did not after a delayed test. Also, both groups of students expressed group discussion did stimulate more learning.
Sessions 4.0.2
The Pedagogical Applications of Wegener’s Theory to Develop Contextual Epistemological
Understandings of the History of Science Catherine Lange, Graduate School of Education, State University of New York at Buffalo, U.S.A.
This paper presents the example of Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift as a pedagogical opportunity to integrate historic context of biographical information, literature, scientific dogma, and heuristic analysis to introduce plate tectonics in high school, undergraduate geology, and pre-service science methods instructional settings.
The Teaching of the Concept of Energy in Primary School Students with the Use of Aspects of
History and Philosophy of Science. A Constructivist Approach Panagiotis Kokkotas & Katerina Rizaki, Department of Primary Education, University of Athens, Greece Nikos Valanides, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
The present study is a proposal for the teaching of the concept of energy in Primary School Students with the use of aspects of History and Philosophy of Science, using a constructivist approach. These aspects are mainly related with the evolution of the concept of energy in the Physical Science. These aspects are mainly related with the progress of the concept of energy in the Physical Science. Our main objectives are 1) to initially introduce the concept of energy using the macroscopic framework of thermodynamics (the first and the second thermodynamic laws); 2) to take into consideration learners’ alternative ideas relating to energy; 3) to take advantage of the causal character of energy as it is revealed from its historiographical analysis; 4) to take advantage of the unifying character of energy as it is revealed from its historiographical analysis; 5) to use energy chains as visual representations for the deep understanding of the concept of energy and 6) to use the visual grammar of Kress & van Leeuwen to design energy chains.
Discourse Analysis as a Tool for the Transformation of Teachers’ Talk Companion Meanings
about NOS, NOT and NOL Panagiotis Piliouras, Department of Primary Education, University of Athens, Greece Panagiotis Kokkotas, Department of Primary Education, University of Athens, Greece
Our paper refers to a collaborative action research that concerns the gradual transformation of the nature and type of teachers’ talk in more collaborative inquiry conditions in three elementary science classrooms. The basic strategy in order to accomplish this goal was to give the chance to teachers to analyze their own talk using a three-dimensional discourse analysis descriptive context. Teachers analyzed their own talks about aspects of their own teaching practices namely: companion meaning about the Nature of Science (NOS), the Nature of Teaching (NOT), and the Nature of Language (NOL). Our research indicated that the involvement of teachers in analyzing their own talks led in the transformation of the social interactions in science classrooms. Gradually the companion meanings that were created implicit or explicit from the dialogues that were taking place in the three science classrooms were more appropriate for the establishment of more desirable collaborative inquiry conditions. The discourse analysis tool provided teachers with a meta-didactical awareness of the learning and teaching processes.
On the Concept of Energy: How Understanding its History can Improve Physics Teaching Ricardo Coelho, Faculty of Sciences, University Lisbon
Some physicists have pointed out that we do not know what energy is. Many studies have shown that the concept of energy is a problem for teaching. A study of the history of the concept shows that the discoverers of energy did not find anything which is indestructible and transformable but rather that the concept of energy underwent a change of meaning and energy was considered a substance towards the end of the nineteenth century. A hermeneutical analysis of some of Mayer’s and Joule’s writings will be presented. An outline of the development of the concept towards the end of the nineteenth century will be given. How to understand energy by means of its history is the last part.
Historical Aspects in Teaching Physics in Slovakia Vladmir Plasek, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, The Comenius University, Mlynska dolina, 842 48, Bratislava, Slovakia
In Great Britain in Thomson Report from 1918 can be found also these words: It is necessary to bring into the teaching some account of the main achievements of science and of the methods by which they have been obtained. There should be more of the spirit and less of the valley of dry bones… One way of doing this is by lessons on the history of science. (Mattthews, 2000, p. 322 ). According to one survey among 20 high school teachers of science in Slovakia only 57,5 % take the competency history of science for useful or inevitable what was one of last position of evaluated competencies (Chalupková, 2001, p. 10). Slovakian school system began in 1777, when Mary Theresia (queen of Rakusko – Uhorsko) started school transformation from individual learning to general education for all people. The name of this school reform was "Ratio Educationis". Rakusko – Uhorsko soon reached higher level of education, comparable with other European countries. Mary Theresia implemented the rule that everybody from 6 to 12 years have to attend a grammar school. Another important school reform came in 1922, when "The small school law" was written and implemented in school system. Schools were divided into three categories: pre-grammar schools (for children from 3 to 6 years old), grammar school (from 6 to 14) and secondary schools- either high school or specialized school. In the year 1939 school system changed according to German school system and another change, in 1948 the number of years that everybody has a duty to attend grammar school increased to nine.
But Is It Effective? Assessing the Impact of a Historically-Based Unit David W. Rudge, Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University, U.S.A. Uric C. Geer, The Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan University, U.S.A. Eric M. Howe, Department of Education, Assumption College, U.S.A.
Rudge (2004) shares how the history of research on industrial melanism can be used instrumentally to address misconceptions and promote understanding of several issues associated with the nature of science (NOS). During the three-day unit, the instructor uses predictable, student-generated ideas to motivate discussions of past theories and experiments by scientists. These lesson plans emphasize an explicit and reflective approach (c.f. Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman 2000) to the learning of NOS. In this paper we present preliminary results of a pilot study assessing the extent to which the unit is indeed effective with reference to several specific nature of science issues, including the nature of theories and experiments, theory change, how the results of experiments are interpreted, and what role imagination and creativity play in science. The efficacy of this unit is assessed by means of open-ended surveys (VNOS) (Lederman Abd-El-Khalick, Bell & Schwartz 2002) and follow-up interviews.
Physical Construction of the Chemical Atom: Is There a Way Back? Merce Izquierdo, Centre d’Histňria de les Cičncies, UAB Agustin Aduriz-Bravo, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Argentina
In this communication, we present some results coming from the analysis of chemistry texts published during the first half of the 20th century. We focus on the evolution of the explanations that these texts provide in terms of atoms; such explanations were constructed as scientists interpreted different phenomena as evidences of the atomic structure of matter. Along this process, contributions from physicists and physical chemists around the atom acquired ‘chemical’ meaning. With such shift, chemistry ceased to be a descriptive and only experimental science and began to be a ‘periodic’ discipline. At the same time, the teaching of chemistry became mainly the teaching of the electronic structure of atoms.
Levels of Connecting Pedagogical Content Knowledge with Pedagogical Knowledge of History of
Science Hayati Seker, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey
This paper proposes an approach for science educators to help science teachers use history of science in science education. The difficulties discouraging science teachers in the literature is similar to obstacles experienced during a study to put history of science into eighth grade science curriculum. To overcome difficulties, science teachers need to connect their pedagogical content knowledge with pedagogical knowledge of history of science. This approach suggests four levels to connect them: Interest level, Socio-Cultural Level, Epistemological Level, and Conceptual Level. These levels will help science educators and textbook writers to put history of science into science teaching.
Using the Relations Between HPS and Science Education in In-service University Chemistry
Teacher Education Alvaro Garcia Martinez, Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas, Colombia Merce Izquierdo Aymerich, Universitat Autňnoma de Barcelona, Spain Agustin Aduriz-Bravo, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Argentina
In this paper, we present a proposal for a process of in-service education of university chemistry teachers. Such proposal is founded on the use of contemporary perspectives from the history of science around scientific instruments and experimental work in chemistry. For our proposal, we have selected episodes from the history of chemistry and analysed them as ‘case studies’. Among such episodes are Joseph Black’s works on the decomposition of magnesia alba (magnesium carbonate) through heat, and Lavoisier’s use of the ice calorimeter in his studies on caloric. We studied these cases under a theoretical perspective that we call ‘school scientific activity’. The university teachers in our study worked under the principles of a community of professional development, discussing those episodes and reconstructing some key questions to understand important concepts such as ‘gas’, ‘gaseous state’, ‘chemical change’ and ‘specific heat’.
Sessions 4.0.5
(EDT 370a)
Symposium Session: Models in Science and in Science Education
Chair: Michael R. Matthews, University of New South Wales, Australia
Four authors from a special issue of Science & Education on the theme of ‘Models in Science and in Science Education’ (volume 16 numbers 7-8) will briefly speak to their published papers. The special issue contributes to the tradition of model-related research in education, and it does so in both the fields of pedagogy and epistemology. The ubiquity of models in the history and current practice of science is widely recognised. In the past half-century historians and philosophers of science have devoted considerable time to documenting and understanding the role of models in science and social science. A minority of studies has engaged with the central epistemic question of the truth-status of models, and of how models relate, or do not relate, to the real-world processes that they are putatively representing. In Education research there has been a rich vein of such research investigating the use of models as aids to memory, as ways of bridging between the experience and understanding of learners and the more abstract theories of science; and there has been a lot of research on the efficacy of children’s own experiences of model construction and testing. Attention to the epistemological side of model construction, functioning and testing is of special current importance because of the unprecedented importance being given to ‘Nature of Science’ objectives in science curricula around the world.
Models in Science and in Science Education: An Introduction Michael R. Matthews, University of New South Wales, Australia
Incommensurability and Multiple Models: Representations about Structure of Matter in Undergraduate Chemistry Students Fernando Flores-Camacho, National Autonomous University of Mexico
Models and Modelling in Physics Education: A Critical Re-analysis of Philosophical Underpinnings and Suggestions for Revision Ismo Koponen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Definition of Historical Models of Gene Function and their Relation to Students' Understanding of Genetics Mariana Hagberg, Karlstad University, Sweden
The Role of Models and Analogies in the Electromagnetic Theory: A Historical Case Study Cibelle Celestino Silva, State University of Campinas, Brazil
Plenary Presentation:
Teaching and Assessing the Nature of Science: Issues and Complexities
Chair: Dr. Michael P. Clough, Iowa State University, U.S.A.
Dr. Joanne Olson, Iowa State University, U.S.A. Dr. Kevin de Berg, Avondale College, Australia Dr. William F. McComas, University of Arkansas, U.S.A. Dr. Jim Ryder & John Leach, University of Leeds, U.K.
This symposium will address issues raised in a forthcoming special issue of Science & Education devoted to teaching and assessing the NOS. The two co-editors of that special issue, and three contributing authors, will briefly summarize the content of the special issue before moving on to focus on issues and complexities in teaching and assessing the NOS. The symposium will illustrate the importance of the NOS in teaching science, the research efforts being made to promote effective NOS teaching and learning, and point to the significant amount of work that remains to be done. The issues addressed underscore that improving the teaching, learning and assessing of NOS is still far from being clearly understood and translated into practice.
Teaching and Assessing the Nature of Science: An Introduction Michael Clough & Joanne Olson, Special Issue Co-Editors, Iowa State University
Most authors in the special issue speak to the complex and contextual character of the NOS. Future scholarship should continue to address what NOS ideas are worth learning, how sophisticated an understanding is desirable and possible, and the developmental appropriateness of particular NOS ideas. While scholarship has grown regarding how to effectively teach the NOS, proposed ideas should be implemented and assessed more widely and in larger settings. In addition, research regarding professional development that promotes teachers’ attention to, and implementation of, accurate and effective NOS instruction is sorely needed. Efforts are urgently needed to help teachers and creators of high stakes tests accurately assess students’ understanding of NOS. While criticisms of common pencil-and-paper NOS assessments are well placed, attention is needed to creating viable, valid and reliable assessments that will encourage teachers to accurately and consistently implement appropriate NOS instruction.
Teaching About the Epistemology of Science in Upper Secondary Schools: An Analysis of
Teachers’ Classroom Talk Jim Ryder & John Leach, University of Leeds, UK
We draw upon the available literature to identify characteristics of teacher talk likely to support student learning about the epistemology of science: making appropriate statements about the epistemology of science in the classroom, linking the epistemology of science with science concepts, stating and justifying learning aims, and working with students’ ideas. These characteristics are used in an analysis of the classroom talk of seven teachers. Lessons focused on a specific aspect of the epistemology of science. Expertise related to several characteristics of teacher talk varied between teachers. For example, some teachers used a range of approaches to working with students’ ideas during whole class talk (e.g. asking students to justify their ideas and challenging students’ views) whereas for other teachers students’ ideas were not a strong feature of classroom discourse. Our analysis of teacher talk in specific lesson contexts provides insights into appropriate starting points for professional development activities.
The Concepts of Heat and Temperature: The Problem of Determining the Content for the
Construction of a Historical Case Study which is Sensitive to Nature of Science Issues and
Teaching-learning Issues Kevin C de Berg, Avondale College, Australia
Historical case studies of scientific concepts are a useful medium for showing how scientific ideas originate and how they change over time. They are thus a useful tool for conveying knowledge about the nature of science. This paper focuses on the concepts of heat and temperature and discusses some issues related to choosing the content for a historical case study which incorporates not only nature of science perspectives but understandings related to what we know about the teaching and learning of these concepts. The case study is designed for first year university chemistry students as an introduction to their study of thermodynamics. The paper includes a general chemistry textbook analysis of the heat and temperature concepts and a discussion of the caloric theory of heat, thermometry, and a brief survey of how the energy concept transformed our understanding of heat and temperature.
Seeking Historical Examples to Illustrate Key Aspects of the Nature of Science William F. McComas, University of Arkansas, U.S.A.
Widespread agreement exists that the nature of science (NOS) is an integral element of K-12 science teaching with emerging consensus on what the NOS elements should be. This project extracted historical examples from eight recent NOS books for general readers. The historical vignettes were collected as an instructional resource, tied to “big” ideas in NOS and analyzed to determine the kinds of examples and the focus of the science discipline illustrated. Analysis revealed approximately 80 historical vignettes ranging from astronomy to physics. The greatest number comes from physics (37%). When added to astronomy, the percentage of physical science examples to 59%. This is like due to the lengthy history of physics (with iconic scientists Galileo, Newton and Einstein mentioned frequently) and astronomy (particularly the debate regarding the place of the Earth in the solar system).
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