Transcript Chapter 5: Social Relevance and the Organized Disciplines

Chapter 5:
Social Relevance and
the Organized
Disciplines
Todd Ashwell & Andrea Thomas
Progressive Era
 1917-1957
 Continuation
of previous reform
movements
 Reaffirmation and confirmation of
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Student-centered learning
Real-world applications
Social importance
Enjoyable and meaningful
Progressivism-con’t
 Argued
against traditional methods of
memorization and ‘meaningless tasks’
 Numbers of students in science classes
were decreasing because of science rigor
being geared to college bound students
 Major accomplishment-Established a
curricular sequence that included
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a General Science class for all students
Biology, Physics, and Chemistry classes for
those intending to go to college
General Science
 Students
needed a science course to
provide them with an overview of science
because many students were in school for
a short period
 Make science class more appealing:
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increase enrollment
increase interest to other sciences
provide vocational opportunities
 Appropriate
for Junior High students
Biology
 Transitional
class between general
science and the physical sciences
 Combined zoology, botany, physiology
 Dealt with practical issues-human
anatomy and physiology, health and
hygiene, and sex education
 Initial focus emphasized observation,
morphology and fact memorization
Biology-con’t
 Content
became more student centered,
focusing on social applications and
principals of biology
 Developed scientific thinking
 Biology fundamentals, scientific thinking,
and social relevance were themes taught
 A need developed to have a balance of
history and facts that were socially relevant
(disease control)
Physics
 Decreasing
enrollment due to lack of
interest, difficulty of class, not geared to
learner, and students not encouraged to
take classes because labs more
expensive
 Calls for eliminating the math not related
to students’ everyday life
 Balance the learner and the content
Physics-con’t
 Organized
content around two themes to
create cohesion within the course
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Selected based on ‘application to everyday
life…[and] fundamental properties of science’
(page 102)
 Make
math more related to the principles
of physics as they impact student’s lives
(hammering a nail, speed of a automobile)
Chemistry
 Stabilized
in content and percent of
students choosing to take course
 Course geared for students going to
college
 Pressure to become more relevant and to
use interests of students to foster learning
 Looked for balance between social
relevance and real world applications
Chemistry-con’t
 Need
for adding a descriptive chemistry
class focused on topics such as:
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results of chemical change
conservation of matter
 Emphasis
on applying chemistry to the
real world
 Once students had an understanding of
the concepts they could then interpret
chemistry principles
Conclusion
 What
are the goals of science education?
(the purpose of curriculum)
 Keep students involved (and enrolled)
 Student needs versus content
 Facts vs. student learning about the
natural world
 Cookbook Labs
 Standardized tests