TEACHING THE NATURE OF SCIENCE THROUGH STORYTELLING: SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM A GRADE 9 CLASSROOM

The instructional question of how to teach ideas about the nature of science effectively has been a challenge, but, according to the literature, explicit teaching appears to be the best way. However, the use of narratives, which incorporate actual events from the history of science, can also help illustrate the human and the larger socio-cultural context in which scientific knowledge was developed. Such context facilitates students’ understanding of science as a human endeavour, which is characterized by successes and failures as well as problems and struggles. It makes them aware of the fact that scientific knowledge is tied to human hopes, expectations, passions, and ambitions. Moreover, the use of narratives can help students understand such ideas as: scientific knowledge, while durable, is tentative and subject to revision, people of both sexes and from many countries have contributed to the development of science, science is a creative activity, science has a socio-cultural dimension, and also that there is not a standard scientific method, as scientists use a variety of approaches to explain the natural world. A recent empirical study provides evidence that such ideas can indeed be understood by 9th graders

Conceptual representation of the Newtonian model of motion in university physics students

The purpose of this study was to investigate how undergraduate students at the University of Northern Iowa who had taken prior coursework on non-calculus general physics with a unit on mechanics understand the Newtonian model of motion. In general, the study was concerned with reasoning strategies, the preconceptions that give rise to these strategies, and the schema that might be inferred from the preconceptions. In particular, the study focused on the three fundamental notions of the Newtonian model of motion: {a) that uniform straight line motion is equivalent to rest, {b) that motion is relative to an inertial frame of reference including that of the earth if the acceleration due to rotation of the latter is neglected, and {c) that uniform straight line motion can exist in the absence of a net force. Paper and pencil tasks in an interview mode were employed throughout the study. However, a short clinical interview was also used in order to assess prior knowledge of the above notions. The tasks were designed according to the Phenomenographic approach to investigating different understandings of reality, and the Rule Assessment Methodology in order for a variety of strategies, correct or incorrect, that a student might think of, be identified. It was found that for the great majority of students uniform straight line motion is viewed as being fundamentally different from the state of rest, and that uniform straight line motion can exist only in the presence of a net force. As for the notion of relativity, students adopt a point of observation, rather than an inertial frame of reference, and motion is viewed relative to that point. This point was either on the ground or on the fixed stars depending upon the context of the problem in question. Several preconceptions and two types of schemata were also identified. In regard to the implications of the findings of the study for instructional practices, the explicit teaching of the Newtonian model as well as the provision of advance organizers and schemata at an early age should be given priority by physics instructors

Engaging Students in Science: The Potential Role of “Narrative Thinking” and “Romantic Understanding”

Engaging students in science and helping them develop an understanding of its ideas has been a consistent challenge for both science teachers and science educators alike. Such a challenge is even greater in the context of the “Science for All” curriculum initiative. However, Bruner's notion of “narrative thinking” and Egan's “romantic understanding” offer an alternative approach to teaching and learning science, in a way that engagement and understanding become a possibility. This chapter focuses on students' “narrative mode of thought,” as a bridge to understanding science—which has traditionally been based more upon the use of logico-mathematical thinking in the upper grades—and on a distinctive form of understanding the world, characteristic of students of the age range from 8 to 15 years. This latter form of understanding, that the educational theorist Kieran Egan calls “romantic understanding,” has features that can be readily associated with the natural world and its phenomena. Therefore its development could be fostered in the context of school science learning, and in a way that the narrative mode would also be taken into consideration

Toward More Effective Storytelling for Raising Environmental Awareness in Young Students

Abstract: This paper addresses the need to reclaim the value of storytelling as a tool for raising environmental awareness in young children. In distinguishing between 'knowledge' and 'awareness', the paper discusses the role that the sense of wonder evoked through shaping topics in story-form can play in encouraging awareness. Through imaginative and emotional engagement with issues and ideas, children can feel the significance of the natural world around them. The role of the Story of the Universe which presents the natural environment as a living organism, in which human beings and Nature co-exist, is also discussed

Wonder, education, and human flourishing:Theoretical, empirical, and practical perspectives

The premise that underlies this volume is that there are strong interconnections between wonder, education and human flourishing. And more specifically, that wonder can make a significant difference to how well one’s education progresses and how well one’s life goes. The contributors to this volume – both senior, well-known and beginning researchers and students of wonder – variously explore aspects of these connections from philosophical, empirical, theoretical and practical perspectives. The three chapters that comprise Part I of the book are devoted to the importance of wonder for education and for human flourishing. Part II contains four chapters offering conceptual analyses of wonder and perspectives from developmental psychology and philosophy (Spinoza, Wittgenstein, philosophy of religion). The seven chapters that form Part III contain a wealth of ideas and educational strategies to promote wonder in education and teacher education. This volume not only underlines and articulates the importance of wonder in education and in life but also offers fresh perspectives, allowing us to look with renewed wonder at wonder itself

Reclaiming Liberal Education

The main purpose of this paper is to articulate and defend an updated concept of liberal education. To achieve this purpose, the paper has attempted two things. First, to provide a meaning for the notion of liberal education by drawing upon, and discussing briefly, the ideas of three British philosophers, namely, Paul Hirst, Richard Stanley Peters, and Michael Oakeshott. And second, to discuss the need for an updated concept of liberal education, by pointing out the shortcomings of the traditional/classical concept of liberal education, in the context of contemporary reality. The implications of an updated notion of liberal education are also pointed out. The discussion highlights the fact that there is a need to reclaim the value of liberal learning not only in higher education but at all levels of education

Imaginative science education: the central role of imagination in science education

This book is about imaginative approaches to teaching and learning school science. Its central premise is that science learning should reflect the nature of science, and therefore be approached as an imaginative/creative activity. As such, the book can be seen as an original contribution of ideas relating to imagination and creativity in science education. The approaches discussed in the book are storytelling, the experience of wonder, the development of ‘romantic understanding’, and creative science, including science through visual art, poetry and dramatization. However, given the perennial problem of how to engage students (of all ages) in science, the notion of ‘aesthetic experience’, and hence the possibility for students to have more holistic and fulfilling learning experiences through the aforementioned imaginative approaches, is also discussed. Each chapter provides an in-depth discussion of the theoretical background of a specific imaginative approach (e.g., storytelling, ‘wonder-full’ science), reviews the existing empirical evidence regarding its role in the learning process, and points out its implications for pedagogy and instructional practices. Examples from physical science illustrating its implementation in the classroom are also discussed. In distinguishing between ‘participation in a science activity’ and ‘engagement with science ideas per se’, the book emphasizes the central role of imaginative engagement with science content knowledge, and thus the potential of the recommended imaginative approaches to attract students to the world of science

Biographical Profiling of Nikola Tesla for the Creation of an Engaging Story

This paper focuses on the potential of storytelling as a means of influencing students to become engaged with science and to choose a career in a STEM field. Given the role that leaders can play in motivating and influencing people and considering Nikola Tesla a leader in the fields of electrical engineering and science, the paper identifies Tesla’s leadership traits, as these emerge from his life story, that is, actual historical events regarding his life and his scientific/technological work. These leadership traits refer to (a) imaginative thinking and innovation, (b) persistence/perseverance, and (c) vision, and point to the need for empirical studies to document the effectiveness of the Nikola Tesla story to motivate and influence students. The significance of the Nikola Tesla story for science education is also discussed

What Really Makes Secondary School Students “Want” to Study Physics?

This paper reports on a mixed-methods study with high school students. The study focused on the reasons they give with regard to “what they find interesting about their physics lesson” and “what makes them want to study their physics lesson” during a school year. The sample consisted of 219 students, who attended public high schools, located in various geographical regions of Greece. Journal entries made by all students—that is, students from junior high and senior high schools—were content-analyzed through a grounded theory approach. A total of eight categories were identified. Quantitative differences between these categories, and between the two groups of students, were also identified. Even though some of the identified categories are well-known motivators in science education, three specific categories deserve particular attention: “connection to one’s own self”, “purpose”, and “utility”. Notwithstanding the limitations of the present research design (i.e., volunteer sample, lack of standardization in students” and especially in teachers’ activities), these categories, along with two quantitative indicators—that is, number of journal entries and student percentages—challenge us to rethink what makes the ideas of science, especially those of physics, meaningful or simply relevant to the life of the students