The teaching of science in schools in most countries changed markedly during the last four decades of the twentieth century. The first 60 years of that century gave rise to many remarkable advances in science, not only with respect to basic scientific principles, but also in the applications of science to technology for military purposes and the growth and development of living organisms. This led to major changes in an understanding of scientific processes, the rejection of positivism and greater recognition of the contribution of science to economic and technological development. Consequently, in the late 1950s it was widely recognized that the teaching of science in schools must also change. The major changes that occurred were: (a) the teaching of biology in schools with an ecological focus to replace the teaching of botany, zoology and physiology largely to girls, (b) the teaching of science related to the earth, the solar system, the universe and the environment, (c) the teaching of an integrated science during the early years of secondary schooling, rather than the teaching of only physics and chemistry as the basic sciences, (d) the teaching of elementary science during the primary school years, replacing the study of nature, and (e) a greater emphasis on inquiry and investigation in the learning of science. Unfortunately, the applications of science both in everyday life, in technology and in conservation of the environment were often overlooked in the new courses that were introduced. However, after 20 years of intense activity world-wide, the movement for change in the teaching of science lost momentum in many countries of the Western world. This was at a time when the developing countries were searching for leadership and for advances in the teaching of science to support their economic and technological development that involved the uses and applications of scientific knowledge and the processes involved in scientific inquiry.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century the teaching of science can be said to be in a state of crisis. This situation has arisen from a growing shortage of science teachers in the physical sciences and mathematics, that has resulted both from the retirement of teachers who were educated during the peak years of reform in science teaching and who were attracted to the teaching profession, as well as from the higher financial rewards that were available in the fields of technology and commerce which had become oriented to science-based development. Furthermore, today the teaching and learning of science is too often seen as a field that involves only what takes place in a classroom and is thus divorced from a world that is changing rapidly as a consequence of continuing growth and development in the fields of science and technology. The authors adopt the view that it is both incomplete and inadequate to consider the learning of science as involving only those practices associated with the teaching of science in classrooms and laboratories. The media, the internet, peer group activities, investigation centres, field displays and museums all have a central role in the teaching and learning of science by children and by adults throughout their lives, because the fields of science are advancing at a rapid rate. The learning of science in schools is critical for all that follows outside the classroom and at later stages of life and that is related to scientific and technological development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aikin, W. M. (1942). Adventures in American education: Vol. 1. Story of the eight year study. New York: Harper.
Armstrong, H. E. (1903). The teaching of scientific method. London: Macmillan.
Baker, D. P., & Jones, D. P. (1993). Creating gender equality: Cross-national gender stratification and mathematical performance. Sociology of Education, 66, 91–103.
Biggs, J. B., & Collis, K. F. (1982). Evaluating the quality of learning. New York: Academic Press.
Bloom, B. S. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. In Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay.
Bloom, B. S., Hastings, T. J., & Madaus, G. F. (1971). Handbook of formative and summative evaluation of student learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bond, T. G., & Fox, C. M. (2001). Applying the Rasch model: Fundamental measurement in the human sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bortoft, H. (1996). The wholeness of nature. New York: Lindisfarne Press.
Boyd, W. (1952). The history of western education. London: Adam and Charles Black.
Bredderman, T. (1983). Effects of activity-based elementary science on student outcomes: A quantitative synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 53(4), 499–518.
Brown, A. L., Campeone, J. C., Metz, K. E., & Ash, D. B. (1997). The development of science learning abilities in children. In K. Härnqvist & A. Burgen (Eds.), Growing up with Science. London: Kingsley.
Bybee, R. W., & De Boer, G. E. (1994). Research on goals for the science curriculum. In D. L. Gabel (Ed.), Handbook of research on science teaching and learning (pp. 357–387). New York: Macmillan.
Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Comber, L. C., & Keeves, J. P. (1973). Science education in nineteen countries: An empirical study. New York: Wiley.
Conant, J. B. (1947). On understanding science. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Connell, W. F. (1980). The history of education in the twentieth century world. New York: Teachers College Press.
Curtis, S. J., & Boultwood, M. E. A. (1964). A short history of educational ideas. London: University Tutorial Press.
Design-Based Research Collection. (2003). Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5–9.
Epstein, H. T. (1978). Growth spurts during brain development: Implications for educational theory and practice. In J. S. Chall & A. F. Masky (Eds.), Education and the brain. NSSE 27th Yearbook, Part 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Flavell, J. H. (1963). The developmental psychology of Jean Piaget. Princeton, NJ.: Van Nostrand.
Gagne, R. M. (1963). The learning requirements for enquiry. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1, 144–153.
Gagne, R. M. (1965). Psychological issues in Science a Process Approach. In The psychological basis of science — A process approach (AAAS Miscellaneous Publications, pp. 63–68). Washington, DC: Commission on Science Education, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Gibbons, J. A. (2004). On reflection. Studies in Comparative and International Education No. 11. Adelaide, Australia: Shannon Research Press.
Gustafsson, J. E. (1988). Hierarchical models in the structure of cognitive abilities. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence (Vol. 4). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gustafsson, J. E. (1994). Models of Intelligence. In T. Husén, T. N. Postlethwaite, B. R. Clark, & G. Neave (Eds.), Education: The complete encyclopedia (CD-ROM). Oxford: Pergamon (Elsevier).
Habermas, J. (1992). Post metaphysical thinking. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hanushek, E. A., & Kimko, D. D. (2000). Schooling, labor-force quality and the growth of nations. American Economic Review, 90(3), 1184–2008.
Hanushek, E. A., & Wössman, L. (2007). Education quality and economic growth. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Hunt, J. M. (1961). Intelligence and experience. New York: Ronald.
Inhelder, B., & Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence. New York: Basic Books.
Inhelder, B., & Piaget, J. (1964). The early growth of logic in the child. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Jenkins, E. W. (1985). History of science education. In T. Husén & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of education (pp. 4453–4456). Oxford: Pergamon.
Karplus, R. D. (1969). Introductory physics: A model approach. New York: Benjamin.
Karplus, R. D., & Thier, H. D. (1967). A new look at elementary school science. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Keeves, J. P., Njora, H., & Darmawan, I. G. N. (2003). Monitoring the impact of globalization on education and human development. In J. P. Keeves & R. Watanabe (Eds.), International handbook of educational research in the Asia-Pacific region (pp. 1331–1346). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer.
Klopfer, L. E. (1971). Evaluation of learning in science. In B. S Bloom, J. T. Hastings, & G. F. Madaus (Eds.), Handbook of formative and summative evaluation of student learning (pp. 559–642). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Klopfer, L. E., & Cooley, W. W. (1963). Test of understanding science. Chicago: Science Research Associates.
Klopfer, L. E., & Cooley, W. W. (1964). The history of science cases. Chicago: Science Research Associates.
Kuhn, T. S. (1957). The Copernican revolution. New York: Random House.
Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lawley, D. N. (1943). On problems connected with item selection and test construction. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 61, 273–287.
Lokan, J., Hollingsworth, H., & Hackling, M. (2006). Teaching science in Australia. Results from the TIMSS 1999 video study. Melbourne: ACER.
Masters, G. N., & Keeves, J. P. (1999). Advances in educational research and assessment. Oxford: Per-gamon.
Matthews, M. R. (Ed.). (1998). Constructivism in science education. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer.
Munroe, W. S., DeVoss, J. C., & Kelly, F. J. (1924). Educational tests and measurements. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Netz, R., & Noel, W. (2007). The Archimedes codex. London: Weidenfield and Nicolson.
Pascal-Leone, J. (1976). A view of cognition from a formalistic perspective. In K. F. Rugel & J. A. Meacham (Eds.), The developing individual in a changing world (Vol. 1, pp. 89–110). The Hague: Mouton.
Phillips, D. C. (2000). Constructivism in education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1974). The child's construction of quantities. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1976). The child's conception of space. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
PISA (Programme for International Scientific Assessment). (2003). Scientific literacy. Paris: OECD (CERI).
Quine, W. V., & Ullian, J. S. (1978). The web of belief. London: Random House.
Rasch, G. (1960). Probabilistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests. Copenhagen: Danish Institute of Educational Research.
Rosier, M. J., & Keeves, J. P. (Eds.). (1991). The IEA study of science I: Science education and curricula in twenty-three countries. Oxford: Pergamon.
Rutherford, F. J., & Ahlgren, A. (1990). Science for all Americans. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rutherford, F. J., Holton, G., & Watson, F. G. (1970). The project physics course: Text. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Shayer, M., & Adey, P. (1981). Towards a science of science teaching. Oxford: Heinemann Educational.
Shayer, M., & Adey, P. (2002). Learning intelligence: Cognitive acceleration across the curriculum from 5 to 15 Years. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
Shymansky, J. A., Hedges, L. V., & Woodworth, G. (1990). A reassessment of the effects of inquiry-based science curricula of the 60s on student performance. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27(2), 127–144.
Snow, C. P. (1959). The two cultures and the scientific revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Snow, C. P. (1964). The two cultures. A second look. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Spearritt, D. (Ed.). (1982). The improvement of measurement in education and psychology. Melbourne: ACER.
Sweller, J. (1999). Instructional design. Melbourne: ACER.
Thorndike, R. L. (1982). Applied psychometrics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Tyler, R. W. (1949). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago.
Tyler, R. W. (1994). Evaluation: A Tylerian perspective. In T. Husén, T. N. Postlethwaite, B. R. Clark, & G. Neave (Eds.), Education: The complete encyclopedia (CD-ROM). Oxford: Pergamon (Elsevier).
Van Praagh, G. (Ed.). (1973). H. E. Armstrong and science education. London: John Murray.
Vosniadou, S. (1997). On the development of the understanding of abstract ideas. In K. Härnqvist & A. Burgen (Eds.), Growing up with science (pp. 41–58). London: Kingsley.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Westaway, F. W. (1929). Science teaching. London: Blackie.
Willis, S., & Kissane, B. (1995). Outcome-based education: A review of the literature. Perth, Australia: Education Department of Western Australia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Keeves, J.P., Darmawan, I.G.N. (2009). Teaching Science. In: Saha, L.J., Dworkin, A.G. (eds) International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 21. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73317-3_65
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73317-3_65
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-73316-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-73317-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)