29/6/2015 1 ninth international history, philosophy & science teaching conference approaches and...

18/04/23 1

Ninth International History, Philosophy & Science Teaching Conference

Approaches and methodologies for a course on History and Epistemology of Physics:

analyzing the experience of a Brazilian university

Katemari Rosa, UEFS, Brazil.

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Comparative case study UFBA & UFRGS Three stages of analysis:

Documental analysis Perception of teaching staff Description of HPS core courses

Brazilian teacher training system

The research

IntroductionHow we have started

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Brazilian teacher training system

In Brazil the universities offer at least two modalities in most undergraduate programs: Bacharelado (bachelor) Licenciatura (licentiate)

Bacharelado is equivalent to the bachelor degree.

In Spain and Portugal a licenciatura degree is also equivalent to a bachelor one.

In Brazil it is a teaching degree.

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The researchWhat have we done?

We have first analyzed the written curriculum, its syllabus, looking for courses where History and Philosophy of Science were explicitly present. From that we have found only one mandatory course with these characteristics: History and Epistemology of Physics.

Then we carried out semi-structured interviews, recorded on audio, with the professors who had already taught that course in the institution.

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The researchWhy the explicit approach?

We understand that one can introduce the HPS through explicit or implicit approach. According to Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman (2000), explicit approaches are relatively more effective in “improving” conceptions about the nature of science of teachers.

As the name says, implicit approaches are those where HPS aspects are implicitly treated, for example in hands-on activities, when the conception of science is not explicitly discussed. And the explicit approach, in another hand, requires open discussion on the theme.

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Teixeira (2003) reports positive results regarding the CNS of Physics undergraduates after a contextualized course which had the explicit approach as a reference.

This was the subject Physics Foundations I, which approaches the Classical Mechanics in the first year, and was taught with the purpose to pass on the "physics concepts within a contextual perspective, with the use of HPS elements”.

The author provides evidences that the course contributed to the improvement of the student’s CNS.

The researchOther interesting findings

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Massoni (2004), analyzing a subject on History and Epistemology of Physics for Physics undergraduates, has concluded that:

The researchExplicit approaches

[...] the perception of the nature of science when it does not happen explicitly is very subtle and the use of historical elements must be very well considered, since if in some cases it enriches and helps comprehension, in others it may seem to confirm the inductivist logic.

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The research HPS in UFRGS curriculum

The Physics program at UFRGS offers five subjects, of 60 hours each, related to HPS, and one of them is mandatory for the teaching degree.

It is important to notice that none of these subjects is mandatory to bachelor’s degree, so a student can go through this course without facing any epistemological discussions on its study object.

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Chart 1

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The subject History and Epistemology of Physics was created, under that name, in 1998.

Since its creation, the subject was taught by three professors of the Physics Institute, two of them graduated in the Physics Education area and one of them in Physics, all of them pursuing a PhD degree.

The course summary allows different approaches, but we identified more affinity among the approaches of the professors with qualification in the Education area, dissonant with the Physics researcher.

History and Epistemology of Physics On the course

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We now move to these teachers’ reports of how they conducted this subject when they were in charge of it.

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Professor 03RS Who is he?

He has a master degree in Physics Education and PhD in Physics. He states working with HPS through his whole life, but never professionally.

He says he will not supervise Experimental Physics students anymore and will definitely move to the History of Science.

Since 2005 he coordinates a project under the History committee.

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He states that in this project he has no Physics student working with him, just History students, as he fears for the professional future of a physicist if dedicating too early to the history of science studies.

He says a physicist is free to work in history or philosophy only by the end of ones career.

Professor 03RS What are his thoughts?

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HPS in science classrooms

the short time problem

teacher supporting materials

respect of HPS complexity

HPS at UFRGS Physics Institute

the prejudice

the way it has been done

only a single course

mixing history of science and philosophy of science.

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He defends an historical approach having the scientists’ procedures as a priority, such as

He considers himself a special case, as he has not had the chance to study HPS formally, it comes from his personal interest since his was a teenager.

“[…] how did Mme. Curie really discovered that thing. What was the epistemology she used […] if that is positivism, I don’t mind, I want to know the procedures, the way she did it.”

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He talks to us about the interactions between the Physics Institute and the Faculty of Philosophy, saying they just happened by the time Professor João Aveline taught this History and Epistemology of Physics course, with another name at the time.

And here there is this interesting thing… João Aveline was a professor at the Physics Department from 1969 until 1994, and has taught two courses at the Faculty of Philosophy. In 1982 he became a Tibetan Buddhist, in 1993 he was named Padma Samten and in 1996 he was conferred a Tibetan Buddhist Lama title.

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Professor 03RS How is the course he teaches?

Professor 03RS works from “topics”, which are subjects directly from

Physics or not, as: "radioactivity”, “discovery of the x-ray”, or “what is

Philosophy of Science for”.

He divides the group in pairs and each pair has to study one of the

topics during the semester and present it in a seminar developing

the subject as from the point of view of the History of Science and of

the Philosophy of Science.

For a Physics topic, for example, relativity, the students should

prepare a seminar showing how relativity came up, how the concept

evolved and analyze it according to an epistemologist.

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Besides, the professor carried out expositive classes and discussions with the students. The papers are presented by the students, at the end of the course, through a seminar and the elaboration of written material.

The professor admits giving more emphasis to History of Science and having some restrictions regarding Philosophy.

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[...]I think it is very bad the fact that the Physics students do not have a good historical view. Physics students in general. Now, I think, I have huge fights regarding this question when it comes into Philosophy, I have many arguments with... I agree... most of the time we agree but also disagree a lot, “Professor W” and I, about these things. I’ve had very serious arguments also with "Professor X" about that and the empiricism history comes up and these things. I think when Philosophy is into question... first I think we are very... I think we have a limited ability to discuss philosophy, we the physicist graduated in Brazil, since I know how we are qualified.

Professor 03RS Other thoughts...

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There should be a heavy Philosophy course, epistemology, something I don’t like, but there should be, because it brings a breath of fresh air, even though I disagree of most of the things they say there, even if I think, this that I say now, that I will say now is, so to speak, “an aggression to the philosophers”, now I’m placing myself in the prejudiced side, I think that is sort of confetti, it is analyzing what has been already done, it is a re-reading that not always the one who did it, did that and all, well, anyway, but I think that anyway it is a cultural, intellectual activity, and I think it adds to the person's cultural qualification.

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Professor 06RS Who is he?He is licentiate in Physics, his master and PhD was in Physics, researching on Physics teaching.

He considers HPS as a fundamental element within physics teaching, pointing that even when a teacher says that is not using HPS, he does it, in an implicit way, constituting a danger by not using it in a reflexive way.

Therefore, he says that it is extremely important to add these discussions on the physicist training, the educator and the researcher.

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For him to know Physics is to know Epistemology. One cannot really understand physics concepts without understanding what the scientific knowledge is, what the models are, the role of the experiment, for example.

For the understanding of Learning Psychologies, it is important to understand the epistemology as an inspiration for didactics strategies.

History of Science and Philosophy of Science must be seen together, “these are two things that cannot be split, not at all”.


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Conceptions on Nature of Science test

20th century epistemologists:

Kuhn, Popper, Lakatos, Laudan, Toulmin and Bachelard

He considers the three first chapters of the book “What is this thing called science?”, by Chalmers, an excellent beginning to discuss the empiricist view of science that he admits normally finding in students.

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Emphasis on the history of mechanics

Lot of material in this area

Integration between history and epistemology

History as a contribution for the epistemologists

[...] you end up having to investigate more this history, to try to understand this epistemology, to do something, like I said, integrated.

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[…] many say that they even, probably if they got an Alvarenga to teach about free fall, they would talk about Galileo as it is written in the book, and that they were already able to question more, have a reading a little more... questioning, I'm not saying they’d have to be Kuhnians, I mean from the undergraduation, Lakatosians, whatever, but that at least they should have a perspective of the plurality of this response of what science is, and especially, what it is not.

Another aspect in which the professor thinks he contributes to the undergraduate is that they question the contents of the didactic books:

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Professor 06RS believes physics teaching has been poor because of the lack of more philosophical subjects, that would help improving the student’s power of abstraction, reasoning, of sweeping alternatives. Another contribution of this subject, for the professor, would come from the need of argumentation that is presupposed, which would take the teacher to further develop the writing skills.


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Finally, regarding class methodology, the professor runs expositive classes, reading and discussion of texts, and applies a dissertating written test.

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Professor 07RS Who is he?

The professor is also licentiate in Physics, with masters and PhD in Physics Education, and has already worked in HPS.

He considers the most important is the Philosophy of Science, as it allows one to have a representational change which most of teacher don’t have. He states there should be a course in the curriculum mostly on Epistemology. Not that History is not important, however history one can study by itself, while epistemology requires discussions.

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He believes HPS can contribute to set the teachers

free from the textbooks as well as to

understanding physics as a construction not as a

discovery.

He says History and Epistemology are not

fundamental for learning physics, yet they are

very interesting.

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For Professor 07RS extension is prior to depth, due the little contact the student will have with this discussions, he thinks its important to see some of the main 20th century epistemologists, even superficially.

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Popper

Kuhn

Lakatos

Laudan

The professor considers inadmissible having an

epistemology course without mentioning Bachelard,

Toulmin, Feyerabend and Maturana.

Toulmin

Bachelard

Feyerabend

Maturana

Eight epistemologists are worked on:

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Students are placed in pairs Seminar on epistemologists Weekly conceptual maps or V diagrams (Gowin)

Own supporting material

Individual paper on an epistemologist

In pairs, they present a seminar and a on history (medieval to current)

During the course

By the end

The professor believes that the contribution of epistemology for the graduate is on the representational change it brings.

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Our findings

The insertion of HPS on Physics programs is still a relatively recent experience in Brazilian universities, but there is a movement aiming at the broadening of this insertion.

Need of investigating other similar experiences, analyzing methodologies, approaches, as well as views of History of Science and of Philosophy of Science brought by professors.

Different approaches

Different views about HPS

professor 03RS admits one can mostly work with History of Science, 06RS believes HS and PS are inseparable .

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Our findingsFinally...

On this case study, the professors were graduated in Physics, and the subject was under the responsibility of the Physics Institute.

In our findings we missed a bigger interaction between Physics Institute and History and Philosophy programs, what makes us wonder how much, within the universities, these programs have carried efforts to bring their contributions to the science teachers training.

Our hypothesis is that we are still far from an institutional re-approximation between History, Philosophy and Science Education, and this has a direct reflection on the subjects that are taught to future Physics teachers.

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References

Abd-El-Khalick, F.; Lederman, N. Improving science teachers’ conceptions of nature of science: a critical review of the literature. International Journal of Science Education, v. 22, n. 7, p. 665-701, 2000.

Massoni, N. T. Estudo de caso etnográfico sobre a contribuição de diferentes visões epistemológicas contemporâneas na formação de professores de Física, Dissertação, Porto Alegre, Instituto de Física, UFRGS, 2005.

Teixeira, E. A influência de uma abordagem contextual nas concepções sobre a natureza da ciência: um estudo de caso com estudantes de física da UEFS. Dissertação. 130p. Salvador: UFBA/UEFS, 2003.

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Katemari RosaState University of Feira de Santana

Physics DepartmentAv.Universitária, BR 116/Norte, Km 03

Feira de Santana - BA - 44031-460 - BRASIL [email protected]

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