THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY? USING GEOSCIENCES TO ILLUSTRATE SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES IN A TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM

Science education at tertiary institutions often focuses on content over scientific philosophy. As a result, many undergraduate students never receive detailed explanations of the foundations of science or the philosophy of nature science. Does the focus on content over philosophy undermine the goals of science education?

The discipline of the natural sciences in general, and geosciences in particular, are uniquely suited for demonstration of the principles of scientific method and philosophy. Too often, however, geoscience is presented as a collection of facts and processes with little regard for the rich history of hypotheses and theories that have illuminated the science. Given the limitations imposed by time, class size, and prior knowledge, is it possible to introduce scientific principles such as the scientific method and the philosophy of natural sciences? Is the in-class discussion of these topics a valuable contribution to education or an unnecessary complication? Lack of understanding of scientific principles seems especially problematical for future teachers.

The authors work in a private, nontraditional undergraduate institution, servicing the urban Miami metropolitan region. The majority of the undergraduate population is composed of pre-service teachers. While each student in the program is required to complete 16 semester hours in natural science and mathematics, the program has not addressed scientific foundations or philosophy in the curriculum.

As part of a university-sponsored grant, the authors are developing a science foundations course focusing on the philosophy and practice of science. The authors plan to pilot test this course, and then recommend it to the faculty for adoption as a required first-semester course. During the development phase, the authors surveyed faculty at traditional and nontraditional institutions to determine whether and how these institutions teach scientific foundations. The authors will report on the results of the survey, including pedagogy, best practices, and resource and materials.