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Education Research Will Not Profit From Radical Constructivism, William W. Cobern
Education Research Will Not Profit From Radical Constructivism, William W. Cobern
Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project
There are moments when philosophy captures the educator's attention. Such an occasion was the opening night of the 1990 annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. Ernst von Glasersfeld gave a highly stimulating lecture on "radical constructivism." Radical constructivism is an epistemological philosophy that divorces knowing from any notion that reality is the referent of knowledge. Radical constructivists argue that adopting this view, rather than realist views, will help teachers improve science instruction. This, however, would mean a dramatic shift away from critical realism which has deep historical roots in Western thought, and which arguably was …
A Logico-Structural, Worldview Analysis Of The Interrelationship Between Science Interest, Gender, And Concept Of Nature, William W. Cobern, Jane E. Ellington, Daniel M. Schores
A Logico-Structural, Worldview Analysis Of The Interrelationship Between Science Interest, Gender, And Concept Of Nature, William W. Cobern, Jane E. Ellington, Daniel M. Schores
Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project
A few years ago I was speaking with a distinguished professor of science explaining to him my concern for the low level of science interest among school level students. I remarked that in my view a major contributor to this lack of interest was the methodology used to teach science. Students forsake science because their own orientation to the world does not allow them to appreciate science as it is typically taught (Cobern, 1989a). The professor immediately added to my sentence "and believed by the vast majority of qualified practitioners." He went on to say that this dropping away of …