A research base for new objectives of science teaching

Abstract

A bright year 7 student was going through the usual steps that lead to the concept of density and its values for wood and brass and aluminum. After measuring and calculating the volumes of cuboids of these materials he was observing the volume of liquid they displaced in a measuring cylinder. As he carefully pushed the wooden cuboid below the surface, I asked him, "Why do you have to push the wood down"? "Because it floats otherwise," he replied. "Why didn't you have to push the aluminum down"? "Because there was not enough water to make it float." "Tell me more," I said. "Well, sir, you must have seen metal ships floating on the sea. If there's enough water, metal will float, but not in a little bit like this."Just after describing for me how liquid acetone evaporated if it is placed on your skin, a first year university chemistry student with good test results was unable to give me any examples of a liquefied gas. When pressed he muttered "Solids, liquids, gases" (a strangely immutable sequence that has neither evolutionary nor biblical support). Eventually, he said he thought the COz in a cylinder was probably liquid. Gases could be liquefied by lowering the temperature, he said. On being asked to describe what would happen if he steadily cooled down the air in a space, he began by quoting, "Air molecules, tiny particles moving very rapidly with energy proportional to temperature." As he cooled them down in thought he held out his hands and slowed down the vibration of his fingers about a point in space. Finally, his fingers stopped and he said, "It's nothing." "What do you mean, has it disappeared"? I asked. "No," he replied, "but it's no longer a gas, and it's not a liquid or a solid. They are all just there suspended in space. It's nothing"!

Model building and a definition of science

“…It is therefore important for changes in the goals of science education to be accompanied by a critical reexamination of current conceptualizations of science. For example, educators have recognized that an understanding of the nature of science and the knowledge it produces is a necessary part of science literacy (Clark & Holler, 1986;Fensham, 1983;Miller, 1984;Wagner, 1983). Current operational definitions of science as process may not meet these needs.…”

A method to quantify major themes of scientific literacy in science textbooks

“…She examined the work of many science educational researchers and organizations in order to form broad and discrete categories of scientific literacy. Among the works on scientific literacy which were analyzed were those written by Pella, O'Heam, and Gale (1966);Showalter (1974); Harms and Yager (1981); NSTA (1982); Roberts (1983);Fensham (1983); Orpwood and Alam (1984); and Collette and Chiappetta (1986).…”

Authentic science: A diversity of meanings

“…How can we teach our students and yet honor their own perceptions? Some clues on how to escape this conundrum are given by Munby (1982) and Fensham (1983). Munby has addressed the need to work with student's ideas to avoid what he calls the state of "intellectual dependence" that characterizes the relationship between many students and teachers.…”