New Perspectives in Science Education

Scientific revolutions may be characterized by the replacement of one fundamental theory by another, changing the scientific practice but also transforming the outside world, reaching popular consciousness. The theory of evolution by natural selection as described by Darwin is an example of a scientific revolution [1].This theory, as many others, may change over time. Darwin’s hypotheses were expressed in a rather ordinary language but today these often are presented as mathematical models [2]. Thus, today the theory may be explanatory only if the context is well-known and the concepts used are understandable. Natural selection differs from artificial selection not only because of the differences between natural and artificial but also because of the differences between the selections. The (artificial) action based on the choice of an acting individual to reach a specific long term goal, is completely different from the (natural) act (active or passive) by an organism to achieve something within the next minute [3]. Thus, within the human cultural world it may be hard to identify the natural selective forces leading to changes, although it may be possible to use the perspective of Darwin on, e.g. cultural activities as literature [4]. Although the theory of organic evolution is more than 150 years old, and may explain almost all phenomena in biology, the use of the evolutionary theory in the teaching of this subject is astonishingly low. From our experience, as educators of biology teachers, almost all teaching in biology from primary schools to universities, is based on facts or simple mechanisms including the interaction of a couple of species. Although biological communities on different levels from biotopes to biomes may be included in the curricula only a small number of students seem to understand the evolutionary background and the ongoing processes within these. In order to increase the understanding of the evolutionary theory, based on the experiences of biology teacher training, some ideas about how to reform the teaching in general and how to create a better understanding, through fieldwork, observations in nature, discussions etc., will be presented.

Keywords: Biology teaching, Darwinism, evolution, natural selection.

References:
[1] Hoyningen-Huene, Paul (1993) Reconstructing Scientific Revolutions: Thomas S. Kuhn’s Philosophy of Science. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
[2] Godfrey-Smith, Peter (2003) Theory and Reality. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
[3] Golinsky, Jan (2005) Making natural knowledge: constructivism and the history of science. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
[4] Carroll, Joseph (2004) Literary Darwinism: evolution, human nature, and literature. Routledge, New York and London.