History And Philosophy Of Science Research Articles

An Enormous Reckoning: Unfinished Projects and New Agendas for the History and Philosophy of Science and Education

This article takes up the argument from an earlier article and seeks to detail the importance and role of the history and philosophy of science (HPS), conceived as a unitary interdisciplinary field, in science education. However, on this count, it not only seeks to ground the salience for science education at the school level but also its role in higher education. While elaborating upon its importance in school education, it charts out additional areas where the HPS could enrich the already existing objectives envisaged. Furthermore, the article highlights the importance of HPS both at the level of the pedagogy of undergraduate education as well as research mentorship at the graduate level. While, for analytic purposes, these two spheres are addressed separately, the article argues for the need to forge linkages between them.

The construction of teaching knowledge from the perspective of the history and philosophy of science

The History and Philosophy of Science (HFC) can help in understanding the role of science and evidence-based research in the metascientific dimension. To this end, this text aims to analyze the relevance of HFC as the construction of knowledge necessary for the training of science/chemistry teachers, through the curricula of teacher training courses. The research was carried out in a federal public institution, located in the southeast of Goiás. Thus, we opted, in this text, for qualitative research, with an exploratory approach, with documentary procedures, through bibliographic mapping in Course Pedagogical Projects (PPCs). From the analysis of the PPCs, the teaching staff and the pedagogical approaches that make up the curriculum, we realize that the view on the importance of HFC for the training of future chemistry teachers is still restricted, as well as the contributions of this field of knowledge in the courses of chemistry teacher training.

Quentin Skinner’s Attempt to Clarify Collingwood

This paper examines the methodological propositions of Quentin Skinner, whose influence on intellectual history, including the history and philosophy of science (HPS), cannot be disregarded. It is well known that Skinner’s method is based on John L. Austin’s theory of speech acts. Nonetheless, the very idea of applying ordinary language philosophy to the subject matter of history rests on other assumptions that form Skinner’s philosophy of historiography. The paper focuses on reconstructing this philosophy of historiography and especially on R. G. Collingwood as a primary source of inspiration. This famous British philosopher, historian, and archaeologist authored many inspirational texts concerning the historical craft. The complex and sometimes contradictory structure of his posthumously published texts requires careful interpretation, and many philosophers see Collingwood as an obscure thinker. The paper argues that even though Skinner openly denounces Collingwood’s central concept of re-enactment, his philosophy of historiography is deeply influenced by a specific understanding of Collingwood’s legacy.

Significance of History and Philosophy of Science in Instruction: A Phenomenographic Inquiry

This phenomenographic study explores the conceptual understanding of science teachers on the significance of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) in science instruction. A total of 15 teachers were purposively selected in government-owned schools in Zambales, Philippines. The study utilized one-on-one interview sessions with the participants using a structured interview guide. Thematic analysis served as the springboard for the identification of categories and underlying themes, which facilitated the construction of outcome spaces. The study revealed that the Filipino science teachers saw and understood the significance of HPS in science education in four different ways: 1) HPS humanizes science education; 2) HPS improves scientific literacy; 3) HPS enhances teachers' pedagogy; and 4) HPS boosts 21st century skills. Implications for science education framework in the Philippines as well as to HPS curriculum enhancement were further established in the study.

Patterns in undergraduate students’ and educators’ sense of the ontology of the atom and implications for addressing learning impediments

In this study, we explored undergraduate chemistry education at Kotebe University of Education (KUE) in terms of the ontological orientations, patterns and source domains of educators’ and undergraduate students’ sense of the atom. Due to the ambiguity and controversy regarding atomic ontology as a case of interest and the requirement for a thorough analysis, an interpretative case study design was employed. It mainly involved a semi-structured interview of 10 educators and 14 undergraduate students. The analysis involved Charmaz's approach for coding. Four core patterns were found to constitute the overall narrative of educators and undergraduate students, from which the interpretative, mechanical, and hypothetical orientations were implied. The ways of thinking in the three patterns were traced back to the underemphasis and distorted portrayal of the History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) in the curriculum and classroom discourse. The usage of some words and expressions with mechanical connotations was also discovered to be the fourth theme of patterns to which the mechanical orientations are attributed. Views of controversial ontologies are held by the participants of this single system. There is also an emerging inclination among undergraduate students toward reductionism, which is not expected from a chemistry student. Therefore, this study implies that the historical and philosophical aspects need to be critically examined in classroom instruction, curriculum development, professional development of educators, and research on chemistry education to avoid ontological complications and address learning impediments. The instructional approaches, materials, and classroom discourse also need to be examined carefully from an ontological point of view to avoid unnecessary complications and obstacles.

Philosophical Education in Coordinates of Science

The article justifies the inextricable interconnectedness and creative interaction of philosophy, science and education in the course of their historical development. The article focuses on the problem of teaching the course of history and philosophy of science (HFS) in terms of formation of critical creative thinking of the future scientist. The author’s teaching experience of the HFS course at the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov is described. It is substantiated that the term «science» should be defined, first of all, as a block of natural-science disciplines. The presentation in the lecture course and further elaboration in seminars of genesis and the development of these programmes form the basis for doctoral students’ understanding of the unity and continuity of scientific knowledge in history. The article presents a comparative analysis of positive and negative assessments by scientists of the relationship between philosophy and science. Special attention is paid to the students’ understanding of the method of scientific discussion and the concept of «truth». Examples from both the history of philosophy and history of science are used. It has been shown that discussions alone cannot lead to the discovery of the truth, but they are necessary to further stimulate the development of science and theoretical thinking. The discussions at seminars contribute to the development of communicative practices of future researchers. It cannot be accepted that classical lectures are becoming anachronistic nowadays. The author argues that a classical lecture is not just a text and a content. What is important, first of all, is a direct contact with audience, which entails so-called body language including mimics, gestures and intonations. This language plays an important role from a psychological point of view. It is proposed that discussions among educators and practitioners be organized on the basis of a permanent methodological seminar to discuss the basic issues of the HFS course.

History and philosophy of science takes form

During the past hundred years the strength of the amalgam of history and philosophy of science (HPS) has waxed and waned, while assuming multiple forms and acquiring different imprints. In the 1940s and 1950s, philosopher Gerd Buchdahl and colleagues in Melbourne, Australia, assembled a methodologically powerful version of HPS, drawing on their readings, with general historians, of the philosophical works of R.G. Collingwood and Ludwig Wittgenstein, among others. Buchdahl later tried to export this pioneering conceptualization to Cambridge University, where he came to lead a new department of HPS. To appreciate the qualities and dimensions of the innovative mode of inquiry, it is necessary to understand the ecology of knowledge that promoted its emergence in an out-of-the-way settler colonial society, a productively marginal site where unanticipated filiations and alliances might be licensed to unsettled émigré scholars such as Buchdahl. Accordingly, this essay brushes off a forgotten genealogy of the relations of history and philosophy and science, thereby revealing a neglected past cognitive identity of HPS and suggesting a means to re-imagine its future.

Soil in the air

The post-war era of the 1940s is known for the birth of global governance, a time when Western nations united in efforts to reconstruct the war-torn world and reflected on the role of science in society. History and philosophy of science (HPS) was one of the early projects that emerged out of the war years. Diana (Ding) Dyason who headed the first HPS department in the southern hemisphere is honoured by this annual lecture, the text of which constitutes this article. Thomas Kuhn’s influential lecture in Oxford in 1961 inspired her work on the history of scientific entanglement with social concerns, and the directions of HPS at the University of Melbourne. Post-war reconstruction was both a local and a national project for every nation, very much in the air in the 1940s, and influential until the 1970s. The Australasian Association of Scientific Workers (AASW) brought together scientists too old to serve, or, in reserved occupations, to undertake their own ‘war effort’ on the question of: ‘What comes next?’ AASW held a planning conference in Sydney in 1944 to ‘formulate a policy on the organisation of science necessary to meet the demands of post-war Australia’. They set out to consider the role of the ‘the scientific method’ in the welfare of society. In particular, they recognised their existing international scientific networks and connections could become valuable for post-war collaborations between different sciences and different nations of benefit to Australia and the world. The idea of ‘the environment’ was one of many that emerged internationally in these ‘world-minded’ times, an idea that focused on the management of nature for the benefit of people using the scientific method. National Parks were a crucial discussion point, bringing together amateur naturalists and professional environmental managers of all sorts in discussions about landscape planning along with international comparative work on reserving places for wild animals and plants. This Dyason Lecture explores the emergence of ‘integrated science’, of science in the service of society, that later included natural resource management, big science, environmental science, earth systems science and climate science. It begins with the tragedy of the ‘dirty thirties’, when soil was in the air, and the scientific response to concerns about feeding the world.

Ontological orientations of educators’ sense of the atom and underlying source domains: a case study of Kotebe Metropolitan University, Ethiopia

This study aimed to uncover the ontological orientations of educators’ sense of the atom of Kotebe Metropolitan University (KMU), Ethiopia. Thus, an interpretative case study design was employed, with the analytic approach of grounded theory, due to the importance of atomic ontology as a case and the need for an in-depth analysis of their thinking and possible interpretations. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview of eight chemistry educators of the university and coded using Charmaz's approach to coding. The History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) was employed for identifying and sorting the data into the ontological categories, while the theory of experientialism (ToE) was used for locating source domains. Consequently, the interpretative ontological view was traced with two atomic notions: the functional and chemical atomic notions. This means that the educators do believe in the existence of the atom in the interpretative way in which their knowledge is well informed by interpretations and inferences of the experimental evidence and applications of quantum mechanics. However, their narrative lacks some essential priori philosophical arguments and scientific contexts and evidence. As a result, this ‘the latest is the best’ thinking pattern was traced as a major source domain to which the interpretative orientation is attributed.

Expert Text Analysis in the Inclusion of History and Philosophy of Science in Higher Education

The history and philosophy of science (HPS) plays a special role in education. An elective HPS course on the philosophy of scientific experimentation for young scientists and graduate students of natural science is presented. The course bears a pragmatic character, and its main aims include the development of critical thinking (CT), familiarization with philosophical problems in the relevant areas of knowledge, and the cultivation of a taste for reflective, critical analysis, both individual and group based, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the features of scientific practice in the context of modern complex group cooperation. Students are offered a classical HPS program that included debates on the relationship between empiricism and rationalism, the role of Kant’s transcendental philosophy, modern topics associated with the practical success of rationalism in the emergence of modern natural science, and the theory-ladenness of experimentation. Particular attention during the course is paid to the problems of megascience, the inclusion of which is justified by the specifics of the students’ engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Emphasis is placed on the structure and typology of the collective subject in the modern educational process as well as in experimental practice. Lessons on the methodology of expert text analysis (META), which are aimed at the development of critical thinking skills and the creation of an interdisciplinary discussion space, are included in the course and relied on the example of the history and philosophy of high-energy physics to motivate professional reflection. META classes included in the course prepare graduate students for teamwork in big science, proto-megascience, and megascience. The course offers practical recommendations that could be applied to students’ own research and could be useful for practitioners.

Better learning through history: using archival resources to teach healthcare ethics to science students

While the use of archives is common as a research methodology in the history and philosophy of science (HPS), training in archival methods is more often encountered as part of graduate-level training than in the undergraduate curriculum. Because many HPS instructors are likely to have encountered archival methods during their own research training, they are uniquely positioned to make effective pedagogical use of archives in classes comprised of undergraduate science students. Further, because doing this may require changing the way HPS instructors think about the aims and varieties of archival research, archivists themselves can be valuable resources in developing archives-based learning activities for science students in HPS classrooms. In this article, we describe an archives-based learning activity developed for a population of primarily pre-medical students in a healthcare ethics class and discuss the pedagogical benefits of this activity. This activity was developed via a collaboration between an HPS instructor (Bursten) and an education archivist (Strandmark). Our hope is that this discussion may serve both as a proof of concept for the use of archives-based learning activities as tools for teaching HPS to science students, and as an argument for the unique benefits that archival engagement can impart to science students.

Down to Earth: History and philosophy of geoscience in practice for undergraduate education

Undergraduate geoscience students are rarely exposed to history and philosophy of science (HPS). I will describe the experiences with a short course unfavourably placed in the first year of a bachelor of earth science. Arguments how HPS could enrich their education in many ways are sketched. One useful didactic approach is to develop a broader interest by connecting HPS themes to practical cases throughout the curriculum, and develop learning activities that allow students to reflect on their skills, methods and their field in relation to other disciplines and interactions with society with abilities gained through exposure to HPS. Given support of the teaching staff, the tenets of philosophy of science in practice, of conceptual history of knowledge, and of ethics of science for society can fruitfully and directly be connected to the existing curriculum. This is ideally followed by a capstone HPS course late in the bachelor programme.

Significance of History and Philosophy of Science in instruction: A Phenomenographic Inquiry

This phenomenographic study explores the conceptual understanding of science teachers on the significance of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) in science instruction. A total of 15 teachers were purposively selected in government-owned schools in Zambales, Philippines. The study utilized one-on-one interview sessions with the participants using a structured interview guide. Thematic analysis served as the springboard for the identification of categories and underlying themes, which facilitated the construction of outcome spaces. The study revealed that the Filipino science teachers saw and understood the significance of HPS in science education in four different ways: 1) HPS humanizes science education; 2) HPS improves scientific literacy; 3) HPS enhance teachers' pedagogy; and 4) HPS boosts 21st century skills. Implications for science education framework in the Philippines as well as to HPS curriculum enhancement were further established in the study

Understanding HPS paradigms through Galison’s problems

In an Isis 2008 review of research in History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), Galison opened discussion on ten on-going HPS problems. It is however unclear to what extent these problems, and constraints on their solutions, are of HPS’s own making. Recent research provides a basic resolution of these issues. In a recent paper Hooker (Perspect Sci 26(2): 266–291, 2018b) proposed that the discipline(s) of HPS should themselves also be understood to employ paradigms in HPS to understand science, analogously to those employed in science to understand scientific domains. The paper argued for recognising at least two paradigms, one based on logic, and analytic forms more generally, the other based on deliberative judgement making. The present paper aims to use paradigmatic responses to Galison’s problems to explore the differing natures, merits and limitations of these two paradigms. This exploration also reveals the basic inadequacy of the analytic paradigm to illuminate the conduct of science, thereby permitting many of his problems to be dissolved rather than solved.

Global Studies and Education in Developing Countries: Road-mapping Interdisciplinarity for Sustainable Development

The education landscape in the 21st Century is witnessing global paradigm shifts. Emergent pedagogic practices are redefining hitherto compartmentalized systems of teaching and learning. With the advances in technology and the attendant expansions of the frontiers of knowledge - through the processes of digitalization and globalization -, the hitherto intellectual boundaries between disciplines are increasingly becoming blurred and of little or no relevance to contemporary scholarship. Emergent 21st century scholarship in the developed countries is characterized by a continued break down of intellectual barriers or walls between academic disciplines. A critical look at the courses being offered by academic institutions in the developed countries reflect interdisciplinarity: Global Studies; History and Philosophy of Sustainable Development (HPSD); and, History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) among others. A similar look at the curricular of most departments of higher institutions in developing countries however reveals holding on to traditional departmentalizations that characterized scholarship prior the commencement of the 21st century. With particular reference to the discipline Global Studies, we shall in this paper analytically discuss the emergent phenomenon of interdisciplinary scholarship as a means of road-mapping and repositioning academic departments and disciplines for sustainable development in developing countries. The paper argumentatively recommends frameworks for reforming the largely monodisciplinary education service delivery system in developing countries. In particular, the paper analytically asserts that interdisciplinarity has the potentials of engendering imperative solutions to the myriad of developmental challenges confronting developing nations across the globe.

A Study on Demonstration of the Nature of Science in Science Textbooks: History and Philosophy of Science Perspectives

Many scholars in the teaching of science put forth that the perennial target of science education is to teach the nature of science (NOS), and science textbooks play a crucial role in the teaching of the nature of science (NOS). Understanding the nature of science is said to be effective when both understanding science concepts and doing science. Numerous studies focus on the teaching of NOS. This study investigates the effect of a science content that is prepared in history and philosophy of science (HPS) perspective on the NOSunderstandings of pre-service science teachers. 34 sophomore pre-service science teachers participated in the study. The quasi-experimental method was used by employing a pre-test, an intervention, and a post-test which is the same as the pre-test. The intervention involved the presentation of science content from the HPS perspective in six weeks long of discussions. Data were collected through a survey that revealed categorical views regarding the characteristics of the NOS. The results showed that the demonstration of atom theories in the HPS perspective gave a positive effect on the pre-service science teachers in understanding the NOS.

Teaching the Nature of Science from a Philosophical Perspective

This paper draws attention to basic philosophical perspectives which are of theoretical and methodological interest for science education, general education and curriculum research. It focuses on potential contributions philosophy class can offer if philosophy education opens up for science and for a collaboration of teachers in the context of post-compulsory education. A central educational goal is to connect basic philosophical skills with any curricular intellectual practice. This implies the possibility of crossing disciplinary boundaries. Hence, the present paper questions the disciplinary rigidity of education and aims at bridging the artificial gap between teaching philosophy and teaching science in order to enrich the individual school subjects involved. Towards this end, this article sketches out a conceptual framework for the issue of interdisciplinarity with regard to philosophy and science in upper secondary school. This framework takes into account aspects of the nature of science (NOS), history and philosophy of science (HPS) and the critical thinking approach which have significant implications for teaching. It aims to facilitate a basic understanding of the significant positive impact philosophy could have on improving scientific literacy as well as decision-making in general. I set forth methods of cross-curricular teaching which can promote innovation in education as interdisciplinarity already does in research since there is growing appreciation of collaboration and partnership between philosophy and science.

Utilizando a História e a Filosofia da Ciência para contextualizar uma aula de Química do Ensino Médio em uma escola pública do Município de Uruguaiana-RS

Este artigo apresenta o relato de experiência em uma aula de química do 3º ano do Ensino Médio, regida por bolsista residente do Programa de Residência Pedagógica (PRP), numa escola pública, situada na periferia da cidade de Uruguaiana – RS. O planejamento dela consiste na problematização inicial com livro didático em sala de aula, recurso disponível em todas as escolas, e foi baseado no 1º Momento Pedagógico (1MP) dos 3MP, metodologia proposta por Delizoicov, Angotti e Pernambuco (2018). O 1MP consiste em verificar os conhecimentos prévios que os alunos possuem sobre o assunto que será trabalhado, para que os conhecimentos já consolidados possam servir de âncora aos conhecimentos que serão construídos, favorecendo a alfabetização científica. O objetivo desse trabalho foi desenvolver a contextualização do conteúdo de química orgânica com a utilização do texto “Anestésicos” (Fonseca, 2016), através da dinâmica da leitura amiga durante o 1MP e abordando a História e Filosofia da Ciência (HFC). A proposta iniciou com a leitura do texto, após a leitura de cada frase do texto por um aluno diferente, era realizada uma discussão argumentativa onde os alunos participaram ativamente expondo seus conhecimentos prévios, relacionando a importância da química nos medicamentos e relacionando ao seu cotidiano. Através das falas dos alunos conclui-se a importância do 1MP e da HFC na contextualização do conteúdo para motivar os alunos em seu processo de ensino-aprendizagem.

Temas de Natureza da Ciência a partir de episódios históricos: os debates sobre a natureza da luz na primeira metade do século XIX

Este trabalho insere-se no contexto das discussões acerca da inserção da chamada “Natureza da Ciência” (NDC) no ensino de ciências por meio do uso da História e da Filosofia da Ciência (HFC). A partir da análise de aspectos dos debates sobre a natureza da luz no início do século XIX, propomos a discussão de diversos temas da NDC, com ênfase nos diferentes fatores envolvidos no processo de avaliação entre teorias concorrentes. Em particular, trazemos as contribuições de Thomas Young e Augustin Fresnel no âmbito da disputa entre a teoria ondulatória e corpuscular da luz, destacando, ainda, aspectos dos contextos francês e britânico desse período. Surgem, da apresentação desse episódio histórico, certos temas concernentes ao saber sobre ciência, tanto relacionados mais diretamente a questões históricas e sociológicas quanto relativos a questões epistemológicas, e que podem ser problematizados e explorados no ensino de física.

Um estudo longitudinal acerca da evolução das posturas epistemológicas de um grupo de licenciandos em Química

In general, Science is considered by society as a knowledge dissociated from its daily life. This common sense about Science is a reflection of a teaching process that does not promote discussions around this theme. Understanding the importance of these debates, teacher training programs have included disciplines of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), aiming to prepare teachers to debate the processes underlying the construction and evolution of scientific knowledge. The present study aimed to investigate the contributions of Philosophy of Science to the evolution of the epistemological views of a preservice chemistry teachers` group at the Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul - Campus Pelotas Visconde da Graca. Three questionnaires were applied and analyzed following the methodological guidelines of the Textual Discursive Analysis. The results indicate that there were evolutions towards absolutist views of Science. Understanding the importance of a relativistic view for a sociocultural understanding of Science, we consider to be relevant its deepening in the HFC discipline, as well as in the specific disciplines of the course.