Responds to Jim Garrison's 1997 paper in this journal on Deweyan social constructivism. Argues that key elements of Garrison's complaints are misguided and that his preferred Deweyan social constructivism is a theoretical framework without apparent superiority and with enough flaws that it is at best eschewed by science educators. (Author/SAH)

Responds to Davson-Galle's November 2000 response to Garrison's 1997 paper in this journal on Garrison's view of Deweyan constructivism. (Author/SAH)

The main problems of science teaching in Germany are students' lack of interest and motivation and their poor understanding of scientific concepts, ideas, methods, and results. Lists examples from science curricula and textbooks and describes some reform projects in Germany. Proposes a compensatory program in order to create prerequisites for…

Introduces Oberstufen-Kolleg which develops and tries out interdisciplinary courses aimed at the understanding of science by integrating its history and philosophy with development of society and technology. Describes the development of 'historical-genetical approach', its leading ideas, experiences of students and teachers, and perspectives…

Argues that historical experiments replicated as closely as possible to the original enable experiences that are intellectual as well as sensual in kind. Demonstrates that learning by replicating makes it possible to learn on different levels of human activity related to mind and body. Introduces a case study of the replication of the kind of…

Uses several replicas of experimental set-ups that were originally used in electrostatic research in teaching electrostatics through history on secondary school level. Makes visible the change of the style of electrostatic experimentation that took place at the end of the 18th century. (Contains 25 references.) (ASK)

Describes a teaching unit on electromagnetic induction using historic texts. Uses some of Faraday's diary entries from 1831 to introduce the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction and teach about the properties of electricity, of taking conclusions from experiment, and scientific methodology. (ASK)

Teaching thermodynamics to undergraduate students is reduced to mere mathematical treatment of Gedankenexperimente based on two abstract fundamental postulates of thermodynamics. Attempts to remedy deficiencies of such courses with aims of taking the historical context into consideration in order to illustrate the importance of socioeconomical…

Describes the courses in a study program called History of Physics for physics student teachers at Oldenburg University in Germany, some of which are modified from the ordinary physics curriculum with an emphasis on history and philosophy of science. Presents some examples of student achievements and points out the educational relevance. (ASK)

The first objective of this study was to investigate if the experimental students' post-test knowledge of nutrition and plant reproduction would be improved more significantly than that of their control group counterparts based on their treatment, attitudes to science, self-esteem, gender and socio-economic background. Treatment involved teaching…

A recent UK House of Commons report on Science 14-19 identified problems with coursework and argued for a greater emphasis on teaching and assessment of scientific literacy. This paper describes a written test for procedural understanding, given to 15 year olds, that addresses both of these issues. Comparisons are made between the scores on a…

The purpose of this study was to examine interpersonal behaviour in psychosocial learning environments and to determine the associations between science students' perceptions of their interactions with their teachers, the cultural background of teachers and their attitudinal outcomes. A sample of 1188 students completed the Questionnaire on…

Using a schedule originated by Nott and Wellington to explore science teachers' views on the philosophy of science, data were gathered at the University of Papua New Guinea. Similarities in response were established for successive first year intakes of science undergraduates (1999-2000). Students with experience in national high schools or…

Peers, family, mentors and the media may influence students' attitudes towards chemistry and their intention to enrol in tertiary chemistry courses. In this paper we report on an investigation of the perceptions students hold about their associates' attitudes towards chemistry and chemists. Data were gathered from interviews with 37 tertiary…

The idea of causality is central in science and has long given rise to debate among philosophers and scientists. While the tendency to avoid causality seems to have become dominant in science and philosophy, research in science education has shown the strong presence in common reasoning of causal explanations, often conceived as a 'mechanism'…