IHPST.ORG

The eighth conference of the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group will be held in Leeds, England, July 15-18, 2005. The conference is being held in conjunction with the British History of Science Society conference. Sessions of both conferences will be available to participants, and there will be some shared social events.

Professor Harry Collins, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Cardiff, will be one of the plenary speakers. He is the author of nu merous papers in Science Studies and Science Communications. Recently he co-edited The One Culture?: A Conversation about Science (University of Chicago Press).

Deadline for submission of 500 word Abstracts is the end of January 2005 (email to: ihpst2005@blueyonder.co.uk.).

University College accommodation will be about USD65 per day, or USD45 with shared facilities. Local hotels can also be booked at a reduced rate.

The conference chair is John Osborne of King's College, the conference secretary is Mick Nott. The organizing committee includes Jim Donnelly (Education, Leeds), Graeme Gooday (Philosophy, Leeds) and Rick Duschl (Education, Rutgers).

Science & Education Journal Subscription

The journal is published by Kluwer Academic Publishers and is associated with the IHPST Group. Volume 13 Nos. 1-2, has just been published. It is a special issue devoted to'Positivism and Science Education: A Reevaluation'. The Contents are as follows:

Subscriptions are USD80 (1 year), USD150 (2 years), or USD210 (3 years). Subscriptions can be made at the order form (this not Secure sign in SSL), or by sending cheque or email details to the IHPST Secretary at the mail or email address below.

International Pendulum Project (IPP)

The IPP is a collaborative endeavour involving fifty scholars and teachers from twenty countries. Participants include physicists, historians, philosophers, Piagetian psychologists, science teachers and educators.

The pendulum played a central role in the development of Western science. It was crucial in the establishment of Galileo's new science, it had a central place in Newton's physics, it was pivotal in the development of classical mechanics, and the precision pendulum clock enabled the refinement of astronomy and the advancement of geodesy including the solution of the longitude problem and ascertaining the oblate shape of the earth

The pendulum is a near-universal topic in school primary and secondary science.But its full potential for learning about physics, and the relationship between science, technology, society and culture is seldom realised.

The IPP aims to promote enriched teaching of the pendulum in science courses, and to encourage cross-disciplinary teaching about the pendulum and its wider social ramifications. It is concerned to show how such teaching might contribute to a better and more coherent understanding of physics, especially mechanics, and how such teaching might enhance children's understanding of the nature of science, and of its interplay with mathematics, technology, society and culture.

An initial IPP conference was held in Sydney in 2002. Revised papers from that conference, plus others, will be published in special issues of Science & Education in 2004. Further collaborators are encouraged, especially teachers who might trial teaching materials, or contribute teaching materials to the project.

IPP, Research Fellowships

The IPP has secured limited funds to support a number of research fellowships to be based in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

The fellowships will minimally cover air fare to Australia, and provide partial or full accommodation support.

The fellowships are most suited to folk taking paid leave from their own institutions, but it is possible that there may be partial or full assistance with living expenses, depending on disbursement of the funds.

Ideally the fellowship holders will have experience in teaching physics, they will have some competence in the history and philosophy of science, and they will have some experience in educational research.

The fellowship holders will be expected to conduct either scholarly or applied research, and it is expected that publications will result from the work. The UNSW library is extraordinarily well stocked with science education books and journals, and has significant holdings in history and philosophy of science. The holders will work with the project coordinator.

Currently there are ten primary (elementary) schools participating in IPP-informed teaching. This project is being conducted by Rick Connor. It is anticipated that the fellowships will support the preparation and trialing of high school IPP-informed materials.

Applications or inquiries should be sent to the project coordinator, A/Professor Michael R. Matthews (m.matthews@unsw.edu.au). Applications should address the above mentioned qualifications and project expectations, and the preferred time of appointment.

Conferences

July 7-10, 2004. Australasian Science Education Research Association, Armidale NSW, Australia. Details at: www.une.edu.au/asera/

July 12-14, 2004.'John Locke: A Conference Marking the 300th Anniversary of His Death'. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The opening day includes presentations on his religious, scientific and educational views. Information at: cpci@griffith.edu.au

November 18-21, 2004. Joint History of Science Society & Philosophy of Science Association (USA) Conference, Austin Texas. Information at: www.hssonline.org/meeting/

December 13-17, 2004. International Conference on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, Goa, India. Tata Research Institute, Mubai. Details at: http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/episteme

March 18-21, 2005. Philosophy of Education Society (USA), San Francisco. Details at: http://cuip.net/pes/

March 31-April 3, 2005. National Science Teachers Association (USA), Dallas Texas

April 4-7, 2005. National Association for Research in Science Teaching (USA), Dallas Texas. Information at: www.nsta.org

July 15-18, 2005. International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group conference, Leeds, England. Details at www.ihpst.org

Recent Research

Apart from contributions to Science & Education the following are some papers published in recent years that bear upon the research concerns of the IHPST Group. Suggestions for up-dating this list should be sent to the Editor at m.matthews@unsw.edu.au

Lin, H.-S. & Chen, C.-C.: 2002,'Promoting Preservice Chemistry Teachers' Understanding about the Nature of Science through History', Journal of Research in Science Teaching 39(9), 773-792.

Rudolph, J.L.: 2002,'Portraying Epistemology: School Science in Historical Context', Science Education 87(1), 64-79.

Rudolph, J.L.: 2002, Scientists in the Classroom: The Cold War Reconstruction of American Science Education, Palgrave, New York.

Greca, I.M. & Moreira, M.A.: 2002,'Mental, Physical, and Mathematical Models in the Teaching and Learning of Physics', Science Educationi 86(1), 106-121.

Davis, B. & Sumara, D.: 2003,'Constructivist Discourses and the Field of Education: Problems and Possibilities', Eduational Theory 52(4), 409-428.

Justi, R. & Gilbert, J.: 2003,'Teachers' Views on the Nature of Models', International Journal of Science Education 25(11), 1369-1386.

Kournay, J.A.: 2003,'A Philosophy of Science for the Twenty-First Century', Philosophy of Science 70(1), 1-14.

Lawson, A.E.: 2003,'The Nature and Development of Hypothetico-Predictive Argumentation with Implications for Science Teaching', International Journal of Science Education 25(11), 1387-1408.

Osborne, J., Collins, S., Ratcliffe, M., Millar, R. & Duschl, R.: 2003,'What "Ideas-about-Science" Should be Taught in School Science? A Delphi Study of the Expert Community', Journal of Research in Science Teaching 40(7), 692-720.

Allchin, A.: 2003,'Scientific Myth-Conceptions', Science Education 87(3), 329-351.

Matthews, M.R.: 2004,'Thomas Kuhn's Impact on Science Education: What Lessons can be Learnt?', Science Education 88(1), 90-118.

Siegel, H.: 2004,'The Bearing of Philosophy of Science on Science Education, and Vice Versa: The Case of Constructivism', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 35A, 185-198.

Book Notes

Ibrahim A. Halloun Modeling Theory in Science Education, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2004. 250pp

This book is the culmination of over twenty years of work toward a pedagogical theory that promotes experiential learning of model-laden theory and inquiry in science. It is primarily intended to researchers and graduate students in science education, and it may serve as a major reference for in-service and pre-service science teachers.

The book focuses on course content and on instruction and learning methodology It presents practical aspects that have demonstrated their value in fostering meaningful learning in physics and other science courses at the secondary school and college levels.

The author shows how a scientific theory that is the object of a given science course can be organized around a limited set of basic models. To this end special tools are introduced, including modeling schemata, for students to meaningfully construct models and required conceptions, and for teachers to efficiently plan instruction and assess and regulate student learning and teaching practice. A scientific model is conceived to represent a particular pattern in the structure or behavior of physical realities and to explore and reify the pattern in specific ways.

The author also shows how to engage students in modeling activities through structured learning cycles. Throughout a given cycle, students construct a specific model and deploy it so as to develop generic tools and systematic rules and schemes of scientific inquiry. The target model is constructed by successive refinements of related subsidiary models that individual students would have developed by correspondence to familiar situations. The entire process is teacher-mediated in a way to bring to the surface various student ideas, especially those that are at odds with science, and to help students mutually ascertain their ideas and regulate them in an insightful manner.

Books

Limón, M. & Mason, L. (eds.): 2002, Reconsidering Conceptual Change: Issues in Theory and Practice, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Nowell MA. ISBN 1-4020-0494-X

Inwood, S.: 2002, The Man Who Knew Too Much: The Strange and Inventive Life of Robert Hooke 1635-1703, Macmillan, London.

Fara, P.: 2003, Newton: The Making of Genius, Picador, London

Cornwell, J.: 2003, Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact, Penguin, London.

Browne, J.: 2003, Charles Darwin: The Power of Place, Pimlico, London.

Cross, R.T. (ed.): 2003, A Vision for Science Education: Responding to the Work of Peter Fensham, RoutledgeFalmer, London.

Fl¿istad, G. (ed.): 2003, Contemporary Philosophy: A New Survey, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

Nola, R.: 2003, Rescuing Reason: A Critique of Anti-Rationalist Views of Science and Knowledge, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

Arianrhod, R.: 2003, Einstein's Heroes: Imagining the World through the Language of Mathematics, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Queensland.

Jardine, L.: 2003, The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man Who Measured London, Harper Collins, London.

Guerrini, A.: 2003, Experimenting with Humans and Animals: From Galen to Animal Rights, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Pinnick, C.L., Koertge, N. & Almeder, R.F. (eds.): 2003, Scrutinizing Feminist Epistemology: An Examination of Gender in Science, Rutgers University Press.

Future Newsletter Items

Items for inclusion in the IHPST Newsletter are appreciated. These can be items for the 'Recent Research' listing, or short Book Notes, or Coming Conference details.

Please email newsletter material to: A/Professor Michael Matthews at m.matthews@unsw.edu.au

IHPST Newsletter, April 2004

8th IHPST Group International Conference