Using the History of Science in Science Education: Inquiring about Inquiry.Jerrid W. KruseSo. Sioux City Middle SchoolIowa State University

What is inquiry?

What skills does inquiry promote?

What skills does inquiry promote?Identifying and refining questions.Data collection.Measurement, units, Data organization.Tables, graphs,Drawing conclusions.Making inferences.Working cooperatively.

Why inquiry?

Why inquiry?Improved understanding of science contentMotivatingMultidisciplinaryIncrease understanding of nature of science

Why HOS in science education?

Why HOS in science education?Improved understanding of science contentGreater mental connectionsDeeper processingMotivatingInteresting and achievableMultidisciplinaryIncreased understanding of nature of science

What is the “nature of science”?Nature of the beast.That is just human nature.What is the nature of your question?Nature of science refers to the assumptions of science, how science works and what scientists are like.

Inquiry does not equal nature of science!Inquiry is a teaching/learning strategy, whereas the nature of science is content to be learned.Nature of science concerns how science works, while inquiry concerns workinglike scientists.Like metacognition is thinking about thinking, nature of science requires inquiring about scientific inquiry.What kind of evidence do scientists use? How is this evidence different from historical evidence? Under what circumstances do scientists not use evidence?

Inquiry vs. Nature of ScienceScientific Inquiry Nature of science- Teaching/learning strategy - Content to be learned- Students thinklike scientists - Students think about scientists.- Seeks to understand the natural - Seeks to understand process of world science- Students practicing science - Students practicing philosophy- Characteristics of nature - Characteristics of scientists- Asks question about nature - Asks questions about scientistsYet, as we shall see, we can use students’ inquiry experiences to help them understand the nature of science.

NOS ideas worth learning.Scientists do not follow “the scientific method”.Experimental vs. Observational Science.Scientists work collaboratively.Theories do not become laws….EVER.Science requires creativity and imagination.Science ideas can change.Culture affects science.Science & technology are related, but not same.Science does not use supernatural explanations.Scientists are biased.Science takes time.

Why NOS?Improved understanding of science concepts.Citizenship and cultural literacy.Increased interest in science.You are teaching a nature of science anyway.Why not teach an accurate view of the science process?

How can HOS promote understanding of NOS?

ExampleHow was the story like putting together a puzzle?Why do you thinksome scientists did not accept the ideas right away?What, other than observations, did scientists use to come up with explanations?Why did the ideas change over time?

What benefit is gained for student learning from the story?

HOS as inquiry about InquiryHistorical stories serve as the data on which students might develop the ideas of NOS.Like collecting mass, volume, and floating data might help teachers lead students to density, historical episodes can help teachers lead students to NOS ideas.Connecting the historical episodes to prior experiences further encourages students to deeply understand how science and scientists work.

NOS Reflection Continuum (Clough, 2006)Black-box, puzzles, magic tricks.Students able to engage easily.No content demands, so students more easily reflect on process.Inquiry investigations of science content.Students acting more like real scientists.Students reflect on process, making connections to black-box activities.Historical examples.Real scientists’ stories are more difficult to dismiss.Connect scientists’ work to their own work/process.

History & inquiry are not enoughJust like we don’t expect students to “discover” the formula for density, we should not expect them to “discover” the nature of science.Inquiry or history alone has been demonstrated as ineffective for increasing students NOS understanding (Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 2000).

What things did you see me doing to increase engagement with the story?.

Teacher ActionsVerbalQuestions to draw attention to NOS.“How did religious views of time affect Galileo’s work?”Questions to connect prior experiences.“How was Watson and Crick’s use of models like things you have done in class?”Non-verbalWait-timeExpressionsMovement

SummaryWe all teach nature of science. Accurately???Inquiry is not enough for students to deeply understand how science works.Historical episodes can be used to encourage students to think about how science works.Students must be encouraged to reflect on how historical episodes fits with their own experiences.The teacher must actively encourage deep reflection concerning how science works.

What questions do you have?What things confuse you?

Thank You.Resourceswww.storybehindthescience.orgIowa Science Teacher Journal, Spring 2008science-stories.orgjerridkruse@gmail.com