The emphasis on embedding How Science Works into syllabuses is welcome but my guess is that many teachers, even those who have been research scientists, can find it hard to deliver.
This isn't just because it's difficult to find interesting activities to get across the idea of, say, peer review but more because science is often taught as an end-result rather than a process. And here I'm not talking about 'investigations'. I'm talking about impetus theory and flogiston.
I've taken a fairly uncontentious approach to introducing How Science Works but I'm still deeply suspicious of the idea that there exists some 'scientific method' that leads to 'the truth'.
Heard a Radio 4 programme about this last week - good to see that you are on the ball! J Murphey, Coventry
ReplyDeleteWell thanks, Mr/Ms Murphey. It's been an interest of mine ever since I was at university in the late 80s (good grief) and a friend lent me Against Method by Paul Feyerabend, which I've recently re-read for about the third time. Can highly recommend it.
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