Showing papers in "Science Education in 1991"

Integrating the history and nature of science and technology in science and social studies curriculum

Abstract: The decade of the 1980s was a period of pressure for and movement towards educational reform. During the early 1980s, numerous reports focused attention on the failure of education in general, and science and mathematics education in particular, to prepare American students for the 21st century. These efforts, in turn, influenced calls for reform in the fields of science and social studies education. Several trends have particular relevance for the teaching of the history and nature of science and technology. First, there is a push for the general improvement of scientific literacy. Second, there is a resurgence of interest in history instruction. And third, the trend toward the integration of sciencetechnology-society themes into contemporary school programs. Authors such as Bertrand Russell and C. P. Snow addressed the importance of understanding science and society connections in their books The Impact of Science on Society (Russell, 1951) and The Two Cultures (Snow, 1962). These insights, however, had little influence on school programs. The situation in which individuals neither perceive nor understand connections between science and society is partially due to the fact that we do not teach about those connections. Presenting students with the historical influences of science on society and society on science could help fulfill the goal of citizenship.