Examining Science Teaching in Elementary School from the Perspective of a Teacher and Learner

by Osborne,Margery

• ISBN13: 9780815325697
• ISBN10: 081532569X
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781135637491
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: RoutledgeFalmer
• More Book Details

Summary

Osborne examines the way relationships between subject matter, teacher, and children are constructed in the context of teaching science in the lower elementary grades. This is a study of how relationships evolve, how they are initiated, and how they change over time as the components interact and effect one another.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction and a Review of Some Aspects of Hermaneutics	3	(12)
The Role of Design in Science and Teaching	15	(42)
The First Class: Figuring Out What To Do	16	(10)
The Second Class: Science Talk And Explorations	26	(11)
Discussing Problems Of Design	37	(2)
Discussion Of Science Increases	39	(3)
Discussion Of Science And The Role Of Metaphor	42	(4)
How Discussing The Act Of Design Facilitates A Recognition Of Human Agency In Science	46	(3)
The Last Class: A Consideration Of Background As Well As Foreground: What this Can Mean In Science	49	(3)
Conclusion	52	(5)
Patterns and Understanding	57	(84)
An Outline Of the Unit On Music And Patterns	58	(4)
Beginning Our Explorations Of Patterns: What Is A Pattern, How Is It Constructed, How Is It Used?	62	(5)
Starting To Explore Music Through Patterns: Constructing Relationships	67	(11)
Asking Scientific Questions Intertwined With Experimentation: Working Within The Emerging Patterns	78	(5)
Encouraging Experimentation By Questioning Relationships	83	(4)
The Development Of Method: Communication And Community	87	(8)
Method, Experimentation, Making Sense Of Phenomena	95	(8)
What Is Music? What Is Science? The Discussion Begins	103	(10)
The Meanings Of Variables, Defining Words	113	(3)
Defining Words Continued: Comparing/Constructing Similarities And Differences	116	(6)
Defining Words Continued: What Is A Pattern In And Out Of A Context? Playing With Context To Think About Meaning	122	(6)
What Is Music? Using Patterns To Examine A Fundamental Question	128	(6)
Conclusion	134	(7)
Knowing	141	(64)
A Description Of The Unit On The Solar System	142	(2)
What Do You Measure When You Weigh Something? Finding The Fundamental Questions	144	(14)
What Is Gravity? Our Goals And Objectives Evolve	158	(9)
Constructing And Testing Scientific Theories And The Development Of A Community: Out Into the Solar System	167	(9)
Gravity And The Solar System Continued. I Realize We Have Changed Direction	176	(3)
Connecting Gravity To Motion. Connecting To Each Other's Ideas	179	(13)
Defining Words, Making Statements Of Knowing: The Development Of Uncertainty	192	(8)
Conclusion: The Role Of The Community	200	(5)
Teaching: Knowing And Learning	205	(22)
First Story: Dinosaur Stories--Substance Or Process, Choosing Instructional Goals	208	(9)
Second Story: Martin Luther King Jr.-- The Personal And The Political In The Social Constructivist Classroom	217	(3)
Discussion: Places Of Conflict As Places Of Change	220	(7)
Conclusion	227	(10)
Appendix A: School and Classroom Descriptions	237	(4)
Appendix B: Children's Country of Origin and Pseudonyms	241	(4)
References	245	(6)
Index	251