On the involvement of History and Philosophy of Science in teaching Science – an approach promoting cultural content Knowledge

IGAL GALILI

Abstract

This study addresses the approach of representing physics knowledge as being comprised of few fundamental theories, each explicitly structured. Instead of a regular dual disciplinary structure, nucleus and body of knowledge, we expand to the third type of knowledge elements – periphery.  The latter includes alternatives and problematic elements of knowledge from the historical discourse in the particular domain of knowledge. The inclusion of alternatives not only contrasts the nucleus of the theory but actually determines its meaning and the area of its validity. The periphery may include alternative conceptions of learners. It is the periphery that establishes the space of learning by conceptual variation which is required for meaningful learning. Altogether, this teaching approach seeks constructing cultural content knowledge (CCK) in the learner. Moreover, CCK determines the role and contribution of the history and philosophy of science in science curriculum as providing elements to the triadic structure and clarifying the relationship among the fundamental theories of physics. The CCK is exemplified with regard to the concept of weight.

Keywords

Theory based structure of knowledge; nucleus-body-periphery structure of theory; cultural content knowledge (CCK); cultural knowledge of the weight concept

Full Text:

PDF

References

Bridgman, P. W. (1952). The nature of some physical concepts. NY: Philosophical Library.

Duit, R. (2009). Bibliography – STCSE Students' and Teachers' Conceptions and Science Education. Retrieved from http://archiv.ipn.uni-kiel.de/stcse/.

Galili, I. (2001). Weight versus gravitational force: Historical and educational perspectives. International Journal of Science Education, 23(10), 1073-1093.

Galili, I. (2011). Promotion of content cultural knowledge through the use of the history and philosophy of science. Science & Education, 21(9), 1283-1316.

Galili, I., & Bar, V. (1992). Motion implies force. Where to expect vestiges of the misconception? International Journal of Science Education, 14(1), 63-81.

Galili, I., & Hazan, A. (2000). The influence of a historically oriented course on students' content knowledge in optics evaluated by means of facets-schemes analysis. American Journal of Physics, 68(7), S3-S15.

Galili, I., & Hazan, A. (2004). Optics - the theory of light and vision in the broad cultural approach. Jerusalem: Science Teaching Center, HUJ.

Galili, I., & Lehavi, Y. (2003). The importance of weightlessness and tides in teaching gravitation. American Journal of Physics, 71(11), 1127-1135.

Galili, I., & Lehavi, Y. (2006). Definitions of physical concepts: A study of physics teachers' knowledge and views. International Journal of Science Education, 28(5), 521-541.

Hewitt, P. G. (2006). Conceptual physics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Holton, G. (1985). Introduction to concepts and theories in physical science. Second edition revised by S. G. Brush, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Knight, R. D. (2013). Physics for scientists and engineers. Reading, MA: Pearson.

Kuhn, T. (1962/1970). The cognitive structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Lakatos, I. (1978). The Methodology of Scientific Research Programs. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Levrini, O., Bertozzi, E., Gagliardi, M., Grimellini-Tomasini, N., Pecori, B., Tasquier, G., & Galili, I. (2014). Meeting the Discipline-Culture Framework of Physics Knowledge: An experiment in Italian Secondary School. Science & Education, 23(9), 1701-713.

Margenau, H. (1950). The role of definitions in science. In The Nature of Physical Reality (pp. 220-244). NY: McGraw-Hill.

Marton, F., Runesson, U., & Tsui, A. B. M. (2004). The space of learning. In F. Marton, & A. B. M. Tsui (Eds.), Classroom Discourse and the Space of Learning (pp. 3-40). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Miller, A. I. (1997). Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity: Emergence (1905) and Early Interpretation (1905-1911). NY: Springer.

Newton, I. (1687/1999). Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Popper, K. R. (1978). Three worlds. The Tanner Lecture on Human Values. Retrieved from http://www.tannerlectures.utah.edu/lectures/documents/popper80.pdf.

Popper, K. R. (1981). Objective knowledge. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Reichenbach, H. (1927/1958). The Philosophy of Space and Time. NY: Dover.

Sears, F. W., & Zemansky, M. W. (1882). University Physics (pp. 18, 66). NY: Addison Wesley.

Stein, H. & Galili, I. (2014). The Impact of Operational Definition of Weight Concept on Students' Understanding of Physical Situations. International Journal of Research in Science and Mathematical Education. DOI: 10.1007/s10763-014-9556-7.

Tseitlin, M. & Galili I. (2005). Teaching physics in looking for its self: From a physics-discipline to a physics-culture. Science & Education, 14(3-5), 235-261.

Young, H. D., & Freedman, R. A. (2012). University Physics (pp. 406, 421-422). NY: Addison Wesley.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.26220/rev.2254

View Counter: Abstract | 202 | times, and PDF | 87 | times



Re S M ICT E | ISSN: 1792-3999 (electronic), 1791-261X (print) | Laboratory of Didactics of Sciences, Mathematics and ICT, Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education - University of Patras.

Pasithee | Library & Information Center | University of Patras