Introducing History (and Philosophy) of Science in the Classroom: A Field Research Experience in Italy

Abstract

For quite some time, many EU and Italian Ministry of Education official documents have warmly suggested the introduction of the history and the philosophy of science in the teaching of science disciplines at school. Accordingly, there is a shared agreement between pedagogists and science historians about the efficacy of this approach towards an understanding of the current curriculum content and the Nature of Science. What is missing, at least in Italy, is a concrete fieldwork in the classroom to show the validity of these declarations. This essay is a report of the experience of introducing history and philosophy of science into junior and senior high school classrooms in Apulia (Italy). The aims of this project are: (a) to build a model of research involving high school teachers and university lecturers in the design and construction of teaching units that use the story of science and epistemology for teaching science and (b) produce evidence that this approach is effective in getting more interest from students in science. We relied on many schools for carrying out the historical-scientific teaching modules. The modules were carried out through the case study approach. In the first phase, the participating teachers were trained by University tutors on the modalities of this particular teaching approach. In the second phase, the teachers carried out the modules in their classes and finally these modules were presented in a conclusive conference. Moreover, we evaluated the efficacy of the intervention through specifically created agreement questionnaires.