J. Lawrence Bencze

Procedural Apprenticeship in School Science: Constructivist Enabling of Connoisseurship.

In many parts of the world, school science, especially at the secondary school level, is a sort of selection and training camp for future scientists and engineers. For most students, their general lack of cultural capital (Apple, 1990) minimizes their opportunities to survive the rapid coverage of large volumes of abstract, decontextualized laws, theories, and inventions so typical of school science. Most graduates and “drop-outs” become relatively scientifically and technologically illiterate. They either have forgotten or have confused conceptions of scientific and technological knowledge; often view science and technology as relatively certain, unbiased, and benign with respect to effects on society and the environment; and lack resources necessary to effectively judge products and processes of science and technology or, crucially, to create their own explanations for and changes to phenomena. Citizens with illiteracy to this extent may have little control over their own thoughts and actions and be prey to whims of those who control knowledge, its production and dissemination. Curriculum frameworks are required that enable all students to achieve their maximum potential literacy and, as well, to create their own knowledge, to develop in directions unique to their needs, interests, abilities, and perspectives; that is, to become self-actualized. This latter goal can, in part, be achieved through apprenticeship education in schools, such that students acquire a measure of scientific and technological connoisseurship—expertise enabling them to conduct open-ended scientific investigations and invention projects of their design. In collaboration with five teachers of secondary school science, such a framework was, indeed, developed, and field-tested. Through a spiraling, cyclical process involving synchronous reconstruction of conceptual and procedural understandings, evidence suggests students were able to carry out experiments, studies, and tests of their inventions with minimal teacher involvement. Furthermore, they appeared to accommodate more realistic conceptions of scientific and technological work. Moreover, many seemed to have made progress toward intellectual independence; able to judge knowledge claims independent of authorities. It is hoped that with more schools, systems, and teachers enabling development of such connoisseurship, all students will be better served by school science and, as well, the larger society will be more diverse, adaptable, and free.

“More Than Particle Theory”: Citizenship Through School Science

The body of literature connecting science education and citizenship is growing, through the lens, for example, of science, technology, society and environment (STSE) education. The case study highlighted here explores ways in which students in a seventh-grade science class used studies of waste management to engage in active citizenship. In our analyses of their action projects, we suggest that students formed new connections between science education and citizenship. Through personal changes they appeared to undergo, it seemed that they gained recognition of the impact that an individual can have on the well-being of self, society, and environment. Factors influencing their personal changes, including changes in their science literacy and self-efficacy beliefs, indicate directions for possible expansion studies of interactions between science and citizenship education.RésuméLa littérature associant l’enseignement des sciences et la notion de citoyenneté responsable est en expansion, par le biais de l’enseignement des science, technologies, société et environnement (STSE). Cet article analyse les façons dont un cours de sciences de niveau intermédiaire s’est servi d’études sur la gestion des déchets pour stimuler la participation active à la notion de citoyennet é responsable. Une analyse des résultats des «projets d’action» des étudiants—c’est-à-dire des changements personnels qui sont survenus chez ces derniers—a montré qu’ils avaient établissaient de nouveaux liens entre l’enseignement des sciences et la citoyenneté responsable. Grâce à ces changements personnels, ils ont appris à reconnaître l’impact que l’individu peut avoir sur le bien-être individuel, collectif et environnemental. Les facteurs qui influencent les changements indiquent la nécessité d’élargir le champs de la recherche sur les interactions pédagogiques entre l’enseignement des sciences et la notion de citoyenneté responsable.

Capitalists’ Profitable Virtual Worlds: Roles for Science and Science Education

The wellbeing of many individuals, societies and environments is either dire or under serious threat due to decisions involving fields of science and technology. Arguably, the most significant of these are linked to increasing global climate change—but, many of us are concerned, for example, with health problems (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer) associated with manufactured foods and beverages, death and destruction due to military invasions and conflicts and invasion of privacy through electronic technologies controlled by governments and corporations. From an actor network perspective, culpability for such problems is complex, diffuse and uncertain. However, many suggestthat much fault lies with our current neoliberal capitalist system—which is now highly globalized and strategic, and to a great extent, uses fields of technoscience to semiotically convince a relatively small fraction of the world’s population to repeatedly consume and discard goods and services and associated idealized conceptions while much of the rest of the world labours on their behalf and suffers a range of personal, social and environmental problems. Such a vast and powerful system controlled largely by and mainly benefiting an elite cohort of financiers and corporations at the expense of much of the world needs dramatic reform leading to great improvements in social justice and environmental sustainability. Although it appears to be a mechanism for (re)producing problematic capitalist systems, a site of such possible reform may be science education—given its potential influences, as a nearly ubiquitous social programme—on public consciousness surrounding a key capitalist instrument, that is, fields of technoscience. Although the inertial nature of science education resists many reforms, concepts and principles outlined in this chapter may contribute to positive change.

Print Media Representations of Science Fairs

Science fairs are an almost unavoidable experience for students at some stage in public school. This paper examines how student projects and science fairs—and, by extension, professional science—are portrayed in newspaper media coverage of national and local science fairs. Despite a high student participation rate and a high number of science fairs (100+ regional fairs/year), media coverage is infrequent. Of the newspaper coverage that does occur, much of it reflects four ideological themes: i) Science is competitive, ii) Science is instrumentalist, iii) Commodification of science, and (iv) Corporatism. Notably, we found that detailed descriptions of student involvement in science investigations were infrequent. We conclude by posing questions for possible future action, both in regards to the media discussing the ideologies identified earlier, and for shifting focus to more about the student projects themselves and the student participation in those projects.RésuméPour les élèves des écoles publiques, les expo-sciences sont une expérience pratiquement inévitable au cours de leurs études. Cet article analyse la fac¸on dont les projets étudiants et les expo-sciences—et donc, par extension, les sciences professionnelles—sont traités dans la presse écrite nationale et locale. Malgré le nombre élevé d’expo-sciences réalisés (plus de 100 d’exposciences régionaux par année au Canada), et malgré un très bon taux de participation de la part des étudiants, il est peu fréquent que ces événements soient couverts par les médias. La couverture existante reflète principalement quatre thèmes idéologiques: 1) la compétitivité des sciences, 2) l’instrumentalisme des sciences, 3) «commercialisation» des sciences, et (4) le corporatisme des sciences. Notre analyse montre également que les comptes-rendus détaillés de la participation étudiante aux recherches scientifiques sont plutôt rares, et que la plupart du temps ces comptes-rendus sont centrés sur les projets qui se sont vu attribuer des prix. Nous concluons en posant des questions qui ouvrent certaines avenues d’action, notamment pour faire en sorte que les articles soient plus centrés sur les projets eux-mêmes et sur la participation étudiante à ces projets, au lieu d’un traitement limité aux idéologies mentionnées plus haut.

With Head, Hand, and Heart

Although many technologies appear to have had positive effects on individuals, societies and environments, there is considerable controversy surrounding the ‘throw-away ethic’ that pervades many current product design processes (Slade, 2006). Not everyone supports, for instance, ‘engineered failure’ that appears to be designed into some technologies – suggesting, for example, that this practice increases landfill content and associated health problems.