Brief history of science education

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Brief history of science education

• I Beginnings of Modern Science Ed.
  (1900-1930)
• II Progressive Education (1930-1950)
• III Golden Age (1950-1977)
• IV Back to Basics (1975-1983)
• V A Nation at Risk (1980s)
• VI Science for All (1996 to today)

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Inquiry teaching methods

• traced back to mid 19th century college science
  instruction.
• Ben Sillman visual aids
• Louis Agassiz object lessons
• Asa Gray botany as a related system

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Inquiry teaching methods

• Summarize your earliest memories of inquiry
  teaching methods
• What does it mean to teach science by
  inquiry?
• Describe teaching of this sort that we might
  find in your school.

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I The Beginnings of Modern Science Education
(1900-1930)

• Original U.S. Science Curriculum, 1899
• Elementary School (K-8)
• Nature Study (2 lessons per week)
• High School (9-12, 4 lessons per week)
• Grade 9 Physical Geography
• Grade 10 Biology (botany zoology)
• Grade 11 Physics
• Grade 12 Chemistry

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I The Beginnings of Modern Science Education
(1900-1930)

• Nature study
• --child-centered approach
• --interdisciplinary study of plants, animals
  ecology
• --dominant to 1910, faded by 1930s
• Elementary Science Movement continuous K-8
  program that added physical science

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Secondary School Science around 1920

• One semester courses in many different subjects
  (astronomy, botany, geology, physiology, zoolog

• Grade 9-12 science curriculum of year-long
  courses in general science, biology, chemistry
  and physics

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II Progressive Education (1930-1950)

• 1932 A Program for Science Teaching published
  NSSE
• emphasized organization of sciences courses
  around general principles
• involve students in observing, hypothesizing,
  and experimenting

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II Progressive Education (1930-1950)

• 1938 Science in General Education published by
  PEA, cited 4 aims of science teaching
• John Dewey appeal to educators regarding
  progressivisms congruence with democratic ideals
  of the U.S.

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II Golden Age of Science Education (1950-1977)

• Cold War anxiety in the U.S.
• Federal intervention in science education
• Curriculum development
• Teacher training

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II Golden Age of Science Education (1950-1977)

• NSF responds with Summer Institutes
• Personnel shortages in science engineering
• High school science courses inadequate
• Science teacher training better methods
• Textbooks outmoded

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II Golden Age of Science Education (1950-1977)

• A shot that had reverberating effects on U.S.
  science and mathematics education like no other
  event in the 20th century.

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II Golden Age of Science Education (1950-1977)
High School Junior High Elementary
PSSC 1956
CPB 1957 ESCP 1962 SCIS 1961
BSCS 1958 ISCS 1965 SAPA 1963
ChemStudy 59 IPS 1965 ESS 1963
Proj Physics 62
ECCP 1965
ISIS 1972
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IV Textbook Controversies Back to Basics,
(1975-1983)

• Man A Course of Studies
• April 1975 Congress terminated funds for this and
  other curriculum projects
• 1980s NSF role in science education was limited
  to college faculty improvement

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IV Textbook Controversies Back to Basics,
(1975-1983)

• 1960s BSCS in Texas Rev. Lemmons
• Henry Morris and Creation Science
• 1972 CA Board of Education approved statement
  proposing neutrality in science textbooks. Texts
  dealing with evolution would include a printed
  statement
• Science cannot answer all questions about origins
• Evolution is a theory, not a fact

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V A Nation at Risk (1980s)

• National Commission on Excellence cries U.S. is
  being taken over as the leader in science,
  technology, commerce, industry and innovation by
  Japandue to the rising tide of mediocrity in our
  schools.
• Five New Basics

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VI Science for All (1996 to today)

• Four developments of the 1990s
• Scientific Literacy Movement
• National Science Education Standards
• Constructivist view of Learning
• Emergence of the Internet