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Return to E-mail Discussion page Hi, everybody.I'd like to go back to a question that Eric raised and that Brian commented on: -------------------------- EW: Seems like we ought to have multidisciplinary courses in science and philosophy. Or should this be a more integral part of science courses? Or are you suggesting that science courses, even as they are, can change the way non-scientists perceive the world? BG: In short: The history and philosophy of science (e.g. we discuss a bit about Galileo, Descartes, Lavosier, Watson and Crick) is already taught in many courses, even in high school, but there is not much emphasis place on it. I think we would benefit by doubling the time we spend on including such "philosophical" content into our science courses. This must be more than an introductory chapter at the first of the semester (the model I have experienced). ------------------- I think there is a key difference between "history and philosophy of science" and "science integration." Courses (and sections of courses) on the history and philosophy of science focus on how science is done and how it has evolved through years. This is very valuable--exposure to these subjects can help people develop a basic understanding of the scientific method and how scientific theories evolve. However, they do not directly show the value of scientific knowledge to the individual. There is no explicit connection made between the individual's concerns and interests and the science that is described. Science integration is about making this connection. It is not about the philosophy of science; it's about how science can enhance the philosophy of the individual. A course taught with the goal of science integration would be in one in which motivation would proceed facts or skills whenever possible, and the motivation would be as personal and direct as possible. Students would be challenged to think about the implications of scientific findings and the use of scientific processes in all areas of their lives and in society as a whole. How could we incorporate this into the curriculum for scientists and non-scientists? In science courses for non-science majors, I think that science integration should be a major theme, even if time constraints require that several topics that are normally covered be dropped to do this. If students finish a science course understanding how science can be useful to them, they will be motivated to learn more science on their own than we would ever have time to teach them in a classroom. If they leave the course without understanding why science would be useful to them, they will most likely forget what they were taught and tune out whenever any mention of science is made in the future. For science majors, it may make sense to leave the current courses more or less as they are, but to add some interdisciplinary courses to the curriculum. The added courses would be designed to challenge students to explore the philosophical significance of knowledge uncovered in different areas of science and to identify key areas of research that might lead to discoveries that could significantly affect our worldviews. In addition to benefiting the students themselves, such courses would prepare them to be much better teachers and spokesmen for science. Amanda |
