This paper is about new contents that can be introduced into science education. It is a description of an experience aimed at introducing a complex approach into the final grade of a Brazilian elementary school. The aim is to show the transformation of the conception of space and time from the Middle Ages with the physics of Aristotle to the 20th…

During the past few decades, a wide consensus has been reached in the community of science educators that it is almost unimaginable to conduct a quality science education without including the history and philosophy of science in some form in the science curriculum, and this is especially the case for physics education (Matthews 1994). However, in…

Siloxane polymers and silicone materials are major components in most people's daily lives and are important in a wide variety of applications. However, despite their undeniable importance, they are often overlooked in the traditional undergraduate education, as they do not fall neatly into the traditional categories of organic or inorganic…

It is certainly widely appreciated that there is much to be gained in the fertile crosstalk between science and history--whether bringing a historical perspective into the science classroom (Wieder, 2006) or a scientific perspective to the study of history (McElvaine, 2002; Smail, 2008). Perhaps the major impetus for using history in teaching…

This article talks about the death of Audrey Randall, a passionate supporter of the Association and a hugely significant figure in the history of primary science education. It presents the testimonial of Peter Borrows, a colleague and Chair of Home Counties region.

In this article, the author discusses why the history of science should be included in the science curriculum in schools. He also presents some opportunities that can come out of using historical contexts, and findings from a study assessing the place of history of science in readily available textbooks.

In this "Primary Science" interview, science educators Alan Peacock and Mick Dunne reflect on their own experiences of what science was like in England before a National Curriculum was introduced. Among the topics covered are: earliest memories of science in school, teaching science before 1988 (pre-science curriculum for primary…

As a discipline, chemistry enjoys a unique position. While many academic areas prepared "cooperative examinations" in the 1930s, only chemistry maintained the activity within what has become the ACS Examinations Institute. As a result, the long-term existence of community-built, norm-referenced, standardized exams provides a historical…

When the "Journal of Biological Education" was first published in 1967, biology was still very much the Cinderella of the three school sciences in many countries. Most selective secondary school biology courses readily betrayed their origins as an unconvincing coalition of botany and zoology. In the non-selective secondary modern…

Current high school Earth Science curricula and textbooks organize scientific content into isolated "units" of knowledge. Within this structure, content is taught, but in the absence of the context of fundamental understandings or the process of how the science was actually done to reach the conclusions. These are two key facets of scientific…

Appeals to reform science education by policy makers are not new phenomena. To be sure, while science reform efforts have been ongoing occurrences for nearly six decades, perpetual educational reform efforts as a whole have been evolving and gaining momentum in number for more than a century. The general motivation for continual reform appears to…

Traces the development of the study of geology and geological education in the United States during the 1700's. Addresses the influences of world travel, agriculture, and medicine on the inclusion of earth science into college curricula and self-instruction "civility books." (TW)

This book describes major events in the history of the creationism/evolution controversy in the United States. While writing these chapters, the author visited key places and museums (e.g., the Scopes Trial Museum, Arlington National Cemetery), interviewed important participants in court cases (e.g., Susan Epperson, Don Aguillard), and studied…

Traces the development of analytical chemistry in Europe. Asserts that analytical chemistry should not be intertwined with other branches of chemistry. Argues that analytical chemistry education should aim to create graduates who have adequate knowledge and are aware of their responsibility to society and to nature. (TW)

Presented are two brief articles related to teaching the history of chemistry in college chemistry, "Utilizing a Historical Perspective in the Teaching of Chemistry" (Joseph W. Kamsar), and "History of Chemistry" (George B. Kauffman). (RH)