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The Thinking About Science Survey Instrument (Tsso): An Instrument For The Quantitative Study Of Socio-Cultural Sources Of Support And Resistance To Science, William W. Cobern
The Thinking About Science Survey Instrument (Tsso): An Instrument For The Quantitative Study Of Socio-Cultural Sources Of Support And Resistance To Science, William W. Cobern
Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project
Many scientists and science educators are concerned about the public’s ambiguous relationship with science and this public includes elementary teachers. Like many citizens, too many elementary teachers find science disconnected from everyday life and thinking. Science is a “school” subject - not an important part of everyday life. Some may believe that science conflicts with important personal beliefs they hold about other areas of life such as religion and art. Elementary teachers who feel this disconnection with science will at best approach science teaching as something one does if school authorities demand it. Given that we are now promoting constructivist …
In Defense Of Realism: It Really Is Commonsense, William W. Cobern, Cathleen C. Loving
In Defense Of Realism: It Really Is Commonsense, William W. Cobern, Cathleen C. Loving
Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project
“What is truth?” Pilot asked Jesus of Nazareth. For many in academe today this question seems quaintly passé. Rejection of “truth” goes hand-in-hand with the rejection of epistemological realism. Educational thought over the last decade has instead been dominated by anti-realist, instrumentalist ideas of two types: first by psychological constructivism and later by social constructivism. Social constructivism subsequently has been pressed to its logical conclusion in the form of relativistic multiculturalism. Proponents of both psychological constructivism and social constructivism value knowledge for its utility and eschew as irrelevant speculation any notion that knowledge is actually about reality. The arguments are …
A Reasoned Approach To The Teaching Of Evolution In The Public's Interest, William W. Cobern
A Reasoned Approach To The Teaching Of Evolution In The Public's Interest, William W. Cobern
Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project
Should school science “teach the controversy” about evolution? Yes–sort of. Evolution should be taught bearing in mind public interest in science, not the interests of the science community. Evolution almost always prompts “cosmic questions.” Not that evolution addresses any cosmic question per se; but, because evolution offers a mechanism for how things have come to be as they are, people quite wonder if evolution is a sufficient mechanism for what they believe about our world. People wonder if there isn’t something more that is needed. People wonder if what we believe about the world is amenable with ideas from …