Of 'knowing science' and of 'doing science': A reaffirmation of the tacit and the affective in science and science education
Titel:
Of 'knowing science' and of 'doing science': A reaffirmation of the tacit and the affective in science and science education
Auteur:
Woolnough, Brian E.
Verschenen in:
Canadian journal of science, mathematics and technology education
Paginering:
Jaargang 1 (2001) nr. 3 pagina's 255-270
Jaar:
2001-07
Inhoud:
Most of school science concentrates on helping students gain a knowledge and understanding of explicit science, which may subsequently be tested in examinations. It presents a picture of science as a secure body of knowledge, gained by scientists working according to the standard procedures of science. In this paper I stress a different model of science: the looseness of the knowledge held, the idiosyncratic methods by which it is obtained, and the personal way in which it is used to solve problems. I also stress the importance of tacit knowledge and the affective driving force, which describe the personal knowledge that scientists both hold and utilize; I analyse the nature of authentic science in terms of the type of knowledge that scientists know and the way in which scientists work. The arguments for and against such authentic science in schools are considered, together with the factors limiting its practicality. Influenced by the writing of Polanyi, Hodgkin, and Claxton and by experience of, and researches into, students doing problem-solving projects in schools, I argue that it is desirable, and possible, to incorporate some such authentic science into the school science curriculum. In spite of many unsympathetic pressures acting on current schooling, I believe that there is a vital need to reaffirm the importance of the tacit and the affective in school science.
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