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This activity allows students, working
in groups, to explore their criteria for
considering whether an activity is part
of science.
|
‘Everything’s
related to science. It’s just a question
of how much.’ (Student
comment during ASCEND activity 1)
|
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| Rationale of the
activity |
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| The purpose of the activity
is not (necessarily) to find or agree on a definition
of science, nor a single demarcation criterion.
Rather, it is designed to encourage active discussion.
The philosophy of science is one aspect of the nature
of science, and is considered to provide a suitable
basis for challenging the most able (see Chapter
4). |
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| Activity 1 concerns
the fundamental question of ‘What is science?’.
Whilst a basic question, it is certainly not a trivial
one. In the philosophy of science, this is called
the ‘demarcation’ question, i.e. distinguishing
science from non-science, and there is neither a
simple clear distinction, nor a consensus! |
| |
| Despite studying science
through their school years, many students are not
able to offer very convincing responses to the question
‘What is science?’. I know from interviewing students,
that often they never seem to have even considered
the question. Although students may have a ‘feel’
for what is or is not science, they are often unable
to explain this. |
| |
| Sadly, many students seem content
to just accept that whatever is taught in school
science must be science. Clearly, from what we know
about gifted students (see Chapter 2), we would
expect the most able to have better notions of what
science is, or at least to have formulated the question.
|
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| For something to be
science: |
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B1: ‘it has to involve… finding a solution
to a problem by experimentation…’
B2: ‘test and analysis of results . .
.’
G: ‘involving reaching a conclusion by
a process of . . . based on . . . gathering
proper data . . .’
B2: ‘planned experimentation . . . having
science intrinsic . . . anything else?’
B1: ‘it must involve an understanding
of how . . . and why . . . the process
being observed happened’
(ASCEND delegates exploring their ideas
of what makes something science)
|
|
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| This activity used in
ASCEND was based upon asking students, working in
groups, to explore just this question. |
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‘electronics . . . is more of a science
than it is not a science . . . do you
agree that it’s more a science than not
a science?’
‘no’
‘why not?’
‘mostly electronics is just, like assembling,
putting things together …deciding which
resistor to use . . .’
‘yes, but you’ve got to know why you need
to use it’
…
‘I think electronics is …’
‘pseudo-science’
‘no … no … it’s a technology’
‘at what point do we draw the line between
technology and science?’
‘technology is making things from science
…’
‘it’s using it … like … practical work’
(Some dialogue from one group discussing
whether electronics should be classed
as science)
|
|
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| The activity |
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| The activity is based
on a card sort, which allows students to classify
activities as ‘science’ or ‘not science’ (or ‘not
sure’), and through this process make their tacit
criteria (and prejudices!) explicit. It is expected
that although some of the cards should offer fairly
uncontroversial activities, there is likely to be
lively discussion about others. |
| |
| Archaeology; Architecture;
Aromatherapy; Astrology; Astronomy; Butterfly
collecting; Bird watching; Biology; Chemistry;
Chess; Computer programming; Cookery; Cosmology;
Criminal investigations; Crystal healing;
Dowsing (Water divining); Economics; Engineering;
Electronics; Feng shui; Forensic investigations;
Gardening; Geography; Geology; History; Homeopathy;
Market research; Mathematics; Medicine; Pharmacy;
Photography; Physics; Plumbing; Psychology;
Psychoanalysis; Psychiatry; S.E.T.I. (Search
for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence); Sociology;
Stamp collecting; Town planning; UFO spotting;
Web-browsing |
|
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| A set of activities
that may be judged scientific. |
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| The activity has three
stages |
Part
a) sorting the
activity cards
Part b) making
criteria explicit
Part c) comparing
with another group
|
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| It would be possible
to just run the first two stages, but students are
likely to gain more if they complete all the parts
of the activity. In the third stage the group is
asked to resort the activities using the criteria
developed by another group. (If time allows, groups
should be allowed to compare their sorts with that
of the group offering that set of criteria.) The
tasks require students to evaluate activities according
to both their own criteria, and by applying criteria
that another group has attempted to make explicit. |
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| Debriefing points: |
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| The main value of the
activity is in the quality of the discussion generated.
However, a teacher may wish to debrief the activity
by considering the following points: |
| |
• It is not always
easy to put into words the basis of the decisions
we make;
• It is easy to take familiar things for granted,
and not question them;
• There is no clear way of distinguishing scientific
from non-scientific activities;
• There is disagreement about whether some activities
deserve to be called science;
• It is difficult to define science in terms of
its subject matter;
• We may have to look at how someone goes about
an activity before we can decide if it is science. |
| |
| Note: If the teacher
does not wish to leave the activity ‘open’ (although
this might be quite appropriate, and gifted students
may appreciate this), it would be possible to talk
about science being characterised by ideas related
to evidence – the interplay of theories, models;
conjectures; and investigations. However, this theme
is developed in the second activity. |
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| Resources |
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| The following resources
are included on the CD: |
| |
| Resource |
Description |
Filename |
| Activity
cards |
a
set of ‘activities’ to be classified |
Act
1 ActivityCards |
| Place
cards |
cards
for ‘science’, ‘not science’ and
‘not sure’, to act as place-markers
for the piles |
Act
1 PlaceCards |
| Instructions |
Instructions
for groups carrying out the activity |
Act
1 Instructions |
| Forms |
Set
of forms for groups to complete:
- Summary sheet
- Demarcation criteria
- Applying demarcation criteria
|
Act
1 Forms |
|
|
|
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| Download
PDF of activity 1 brief |
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|
