How I (Try to) Teach Science
Science in a nutshell:
Science is a creative human experience. The models, concepts, and theories used to describe nature are human accomplishments equal in creativity to any artistic work.
However, science is not taught as a creative endeavor. Instead models and concepts are taught as:
Maybe this is why creative people do not often appreciate science for what it truly is.
In my science classes, I aim to introduce scientific concepts through the creation of scientific experiment and then the analysis of experimental observations and logical reasoning. By teaching it this way, students are independently creating their own model (or understanding) as if they were the scientists that came up with the model themselves.
We start with assumed knowledge and then build off what students know (or think they know), create experiments to collect data, analyze this data, and then ultimately (hopefully) we have a model that makes sense to the student enough for them to teach and communicate to others.
Since we are constructing each concept and model through observation and critical reasoning, deeper understanding of each concept and model with result. With this deeper understanding, students will gain the following:
- Science deals with understanding the world.
- This understanding comes primarily from using models.
- These models are created by scientists from observation, experimentation, and/or deduced from logical reasoning.
Science is a creative human experience. The models, concepts, and theories used to describe nature are human accomplishments equal in creativity to any artistic work.
However, science is not taught as a creative endeavor. Instead models and concepts are taught as:
- facts to be learned rather than discoveries to be made
- concepts to be memorized rather than data that is analyzed and concluded upon to create your own concepts
Maybe this is why creative people do not often appreciate science for what it truly is.
In my science classes, I aim to introduce scientific concepts through the creation of scientific experiment and then the analysis of experimental observations and logical reasoning. By teaching it this way, students are independently creating their own model (or understanding) as if they were the scientists that came up with the model themselves.
We start with assumed knowledge and then build off what students know (or think they know), create experiments to collect data, analyze this data, and then ultimately (hopefully) we have a model that makes sense to the student enough for them to teach and communicate to others.
Since we are constructing each concept and model through observation and critical reasoning, deeper understanding of each concept and model with result. With this deeper understanding, students will gain the following:
- knowledge of how to develop and work with models
- understanding of why the model is valid
- appreciation of the beauty of nature
- development of critical and analytical thinking