Transcript Science - Rukautestu

A Possible Theoretical Motivation for
Inquiry Type Learning and Primary
Science?
Sven-Olof Holmgren Zlatibor, Serbia 2005-6-13
What is Science?
Knowledge and research about the material
world!
What is not Science?
Are there immaterial objects?
Yes of course!” eg. Music!
Eternal questions:
What?
How?
Why?
Inventions
Democracy
Eternal questions
Why?
Answers
desire, might, consciousness,
religion,values, politics,
art, values …
humanities,
social science ...
What?
matter
How?
forces
Science
methods
astronomy
physics
chemistry
biology
...
technology
...
Start from a theory
Revise the theory
Fits!
Deduce consequences
Does not fit!
Perform experiments
and observations
Nobody, so far , has been able to describe or
formalize the theory building process!
Induction
Central in empirical Science methodology
How does a human conscious and brain
start to work?
• The eternal questions
– How do children do it?
• The theory-theory!
QuickTime™ and a
DV - PAL decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Conclusions:
• Children develop, themselves, with the help
of adults, an intuitive “theory” of the
material world and …
• communication skills both socially and with
spoken language
It seems … “we were designed with a
theorizing drive and that explanation is a
symptom o f that drive in action.”
”From
an evolutionary point of view we might
suggest that explanations is to cognition as orgasm
(or at least the male orgasm) is to reproduction.”
From ”Words Thoughts and Theories”
by Alison Gopnick och Andrew N. Meltzoff, p38
“Adult scientists take advantage of the
natural human capacities that let children
learn so much so quickly.”
“It’s not that children are little scientists
but that scientists are big children.”
From ”THE SCIENTIST IN THE CRIB”
by Alison Gopnik, Andrew N. Meltzoff och
Patricia K. Kuhl, p9.
Some Science history
• When did we, homo sapiens sapiens appear?
– About 150 000 years ago
• When was the Science methodology
invented?
– The Greeks made a big contribution…
– Continuation (and completion) came 2000 years
later during the renaissance, about 1540-1670
150 000
years ago
Theory
centre?
Why did it take 149 600 years for adults to invent the
methods we all use as new born kids?
So, how do adult scientists do?
• Like children but with …
• instruments,
• mathematics and
• intentional methods!
Scientific instruments extend the natural
senses
•
•
•
•
•
Sometimes we get cheated by our senses!
Science is often contra intuitive!
Increased extension of observation
Increased precision
Absolute measurements - units
Try to count the number of times the balls are
bouncing on the floor!
QuickTime™ and a
Cinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Did you see the gorilla?
Scientific instruments extend the natural
senses
•
•
•
•
•
Sometimes we get cheated by our senses!
Science is often contra intuitive!
Increased extension of observation
Increased precision
Absolute measurements - units
Scientific instruments extend the natural
senses
•
•
•
•
•
Sometimes we get cheated by our senses!
Science is often contra intuitive!
Increased extension of observation
Increased precision
Absolute measurements - units
Eye, microscope, accelerator, CERN
• An accelerator can be conceived as a
gigantic microscope
– In quantum mechanics all articles are associated
with a wave
– The wave length is inversely proportional to the
particle energy
– The higher the energy of the particle the
smaller is the object that can be “seen”
So, what have we learnt about
fundamental matter and forces?
• After 50 years of Particle Physics we know
quite a lot:
– The Standard Model
– Higgs-mechanism (no Higgs-particle yet
though!)
• But ...
Quantum mechanics
Chemistry
Explains the periodic system (atoms)
Great progress in the period 1924-1950!
Quantum field theory
Subatomic
Particle Physics
Explains the new table of fundamental particles
and forces
(quarks, leptons and field particles)
Great progress during last three decades!
Answer to Chemistry:
New ‘Periodic’ Table
Standard Model of
Table represents
remarkable progress
in fundamental
particle physics
Quarks - subatomic length scale today is about 10-18 meter ie
0, 000 000 000 000 000 001 meter
Man - length scale is about 1 meter
Universe - has a size about 13.7 billion light years = 1023 meter,
ie ca 100 000 000 000 000 000 000 meter
Particles, the origin of the universe and its
development
Big - bang cosmology together with the Standard
Model provide tools to describe the origin of the
universe:
Is there more?
Andromeda galaxy
COBE-satelite
1992
WMAP-satelite
Februari 2003
Total Energy of the Universe :
Normal matter - atoms
~ 4%
Dark matter (unknown origin)~ 23 %
Dark energy (unknown origin)~ 73 %
Waiting for Particle Physics explanation!
How will we understand what is missing?
•New experiments and instruments!
Challenging goal in compulsory school:
“all students should achieve scientific
literacy”
How?
•Start early in school - Primary Science!
•Work with experiments - Inquiry!
The term inquiry can be used in two ways,
1. The abilities students should develop to be
able to design and conduct scientific
investigations and the understanding they
should gain about scientific inquiry
2. The teaching and learning strategies that
enable scientific concepts to be mastered
through investigations.
Inquiry type education is drawing connections
between learning science, learning to do
science and learning about science.
Two kinds of learning?
Alison Gopnik, NYT, Jan 16, 2005
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Inquiry type learning (and coaching)
seems to be engraved in our genes by
evolution. Call that discovery learning
Reading, writing and math are late
inventions on an evolutionary time scale.
Too late in order to have changed our
biology.
Reading, writing and formal math have to
be taught and trained in order to be
mastered. Call that mastery learning
Two kinds of learning? cont …
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General mastering of reading, writing and
math is necessary to control a modern
society. Hence today virtually all
organised countries have compulsory
school.
Mastery learning is dull in itself and needs
motivation. Look at sports and games!
Compulsory school
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Practical professions were (some still are)
learned and taught in direct apprenticeship
between a master and one or a few
learners in a craft-guild
This organisation takes full advantage of
our naturally engraved skills to imitate and
also to coach a learner in close contact
This organisation is unfortunately not
practical in compulsory school which
implies mass education
Compulsory school cont …
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However, for reading, writing and math in
primary school the teacher is always a “natural
master”, even if best practice has to be learnt
For science in primary school none of those
necessary conditions for “apprentice learning”
can easily be achieved in practice
Fortunately enough skills for scientific type
“discovery learning” seem to be naturally
engraved in all of us by evolution
Conclusions
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Enquiry type education is a way to exploit
these natural skills and support both
students and teachers to achieve discovery
learning
Enquiry can then also contribute to the
motivation and practice for mastery
learning of reading, writing and math.
“One of the only two articles that remain
in my creed of life is that the future of our
civilization depends upon the widening
spread, and deepening hold, of the
scientific habit of mind; and that the
problem in our education is therefore to
discover how to mature and make effective
this scientific habit”
John Dewey, more than hundred years ago!