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R EPOR TRESUMES ED 010 991 SE 000 019 BIOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN AMERICAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 1890-1960. BY- HURD, PAUL DEHART AMERICAN INST. OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES REPORT NUMBER BSCS BULLI PUB DATE 1 FEB 61 EDRS PRICEMF S0.45 HC$10.76 269P. DESCRIPTORS *BIOLOGY, *SCIENCE EDUCATION, *SECONDARY SCHOOL SCIENCE, CURRICULUM, COURSE CONTENT, EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES, HISTORY, TEACHING METHODS, TEXTBOOKS, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES CURRICULUM STUDY, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CHANGES IN AMERICAN SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGICAL EDUCATION CURING THE PERIOD 1890-1960 ARE DESCRIBED. INFORMATION FROM THE REPORTS OF IMPORTANT COMMITTEES SUMMARIZES CHANGES IN BIOLOGICAL EDUCATION CURING EACH DECADE OF THE PERIOD COVERED BY THE STUDY. CHANGES IN COURSE CONTENT, TEACHING METHODOLOGY, AND RATIONALE ARE RELATED TO CORRESPONDING CHANGES IN SOCIAL STRUCTURE, EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY, AND EXISTING KNOWLEDGE OF LEARNING THEORY. TOPICAL AREeeS ANALYZED INCLUDE (1) COURSE OBJECTIVES, (2) CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION CF COURSE CONTENT, (3) TEXTBOOKS, (4) THE LEARNING CF BIOLOGY, AND (5) INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES. UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS IN BIOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN TEACHING BIOLOGY ARE DISCUSSED. (AG) op- lb" A II1111 It -41111thz- ,...11100t'. BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES CURRICULUM STUDY BULLETIN NO. 1 BIOLOGICAL ir(kryi( EDUCATION IN AMERICAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 1890-1960 By Paul DeHart Hurd Education Consultant Ilielogical Sciences Curriculum Study On leave, School of Education Stanford University U.S. DEMMER Of RAM, MOON a WEIFAR ma Of MANN 11115 DEMI HAS Ka REPEONCEN UAW AS NaiveIRON Mt PERSON OR 01111111ATION OMANI IT.POINTS Of MEW OR OPINIONS STAND 00 NOT NECESSARY MUER OffKIAL OffKE OfEDUCATION POSITION 01 POUCY. American Institute of liological Sciences 2000 P Street, N.W. Washington I, I.C. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED By George M. Clark TO ERIC AND °SUMMONS OPERATING UNDER A6RIEMBITS WITH THE U.S. OFFICE Of EDUCATION. FURTHER IMPRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEM MUM PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNS." 0 1961, by Biological Sciences CurriculumStudy Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-1 ka2 Nemo 174 TIM UNITED STA=OF MUMMA SY WAVIRLY Mk BALT1110112 FOREWORD The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, with major finan- cial support from the National Science Foundation, is one of the principal educational programs of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The Curriculum Study, shortly after its or- ganization in January, 1959, established headquarters on the campus of the University of Colorado. The BSCS Steering Com- mittee, under the chairmanship of Dr. Bentley Glass of The Johns Hopkins University, focussed the immediate attention of the Study on the secondary school curriculum in biology. To facilitate the program involved in preparing new mate- rials for American schools, Dr. Paul De Hart Hurd of Stanfoid University was invited to make a thorough studyboth historical and criticalof the development of secondary school biological education in the United States. It was apparent that Dr. Hurd's report would be of interest to others besides our committee members. The BSCS Publica- tions Committee, under the chairmanship of Dr. Hider T. Cox of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, arranged for it to be published as the first number in the BSCS Bulletin series. Papers in this Bulletin series will appear occasionally and will be concerned with basic developments and problems in science edu- cation at all levels with especial reference to the biological sciences. The Editor of the Bulletin Series is Francis C. Harwood of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, Washington 6, D.C. To obtain additional copies of BSCS Bulletins, correspondence should be addressed to Mr. Harwood. For information about the BSCS programs, inquiries should be sent to the undersigned. ARNOLD B. GROISMAN, Director AI BS Biological Sciences Curriculum Study University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado February 1, 1961 ler PRECEDING PAGE BLANK- NOT FILMED PREFACE This study reports the work that has been done on the teaching of biology in the American high school in the period from 1890 to 1961. It is limited to a consideration of curriculum develop- ment and investigations of classroom and laboratory learning. Teacher education, professional training of biologists, and spe- cial programs for high school students are not considered. The study provides a historical perspective, a digest of research and interpretative summaries about biology teaching that should prove useful to those engaged in the improvement of the high school science curriculum. It was conducted at the instance of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and with the support of the National Science Foundation. The project was one of the activities of the Biologi- cal Sciences Curriculum Study. However, the conclusions reached and the interpretations expressed in this report do not neces- sarily represent the views of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the committee members of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study nor of the National Science Foundation. I wish to express my appreciation to the staff of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study and to the AIBS Publications Com- mittee for their contributions to this volume. I am especially indebted to Arnold B. Grubman, director of the AIBS-BSCS, for his counsel and encouragement in the planning and writing of this book. I also gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to the colleges, universities and the scientific and professional education organi- zations for making available unpublished materials on biological education. PAUL DEHART HURD PRECEDING PAGE BLANK- NOT FILMED vii CONTENTS Chapter Page PART I: COMMITTEE RIZPORTS I.Introduction 3 II. Biological Education, 1890-1900 9 III. The Beginning of General Biology, 1WD-1910... 19 IV. The Changing Science Curriculum, 1910-1920 30 V. A Period of Curriculum Refinement, 1920- 1930 43 VI. A Period of Questioning, 1930-1940 53 VII. Biology in General Education, 1940 -1950 74 VIII. The Crisis in Science Education anda Reappraisal, 1950-1960 108 PART II: RESEARCH STUDIES IX.Books on the Teaching of Secondary School Biology. 167 X. Investigations on the Objectives of High School Bi- ology 175 XI. Investigations of Criteria for the Selection of Course Content 183 XII. Investigations on Biology Textbooks 195 XIII. The Learning of Biology 205 XIV. Instructional Resources for Teaching Biology 213 XV. Unresolved Problems in Biological Education 229 XVI. Problems and Issues in Biology Teaching 238 Bibliography of Committee Reports (Chapters 1 through 8) 247 Bibliography of Research Studies(Chapters 9 through 16) 253 PRECEDING PAGEBLANK- NOT FILMED ix ir PART I COMMITTEE REPORTS I Introduction A CONCERN about the nature of science teaching in the high schools has been the cause of much debate in the twentieth century. As science and technology have become distinguishing characteristics of our culture and increasingly important in the solution of the problems basic toour social, economic and politi- cal welfare, the nature ofan education appropriate for a science- oriented society has become less clear. The number and complexity of modern scientific theories,the overwhelming growth of new knowledge inevery field of science, and the need to develop largeresources of technically trained individuals have complicated the problem of modern curriculum development. T. Keith Glennan's (36)comments about the course of scientific development illustrate one aspect of this problem: In science, particularly, the tendencymore and more has been to penetrate farther and farther into chose': subjects untilspe- cialists dig themselves out of sight, andout of hearing, out of understanding of what other scientists'are doing in their own and neighboring fields. And, if thisstate of affairs is alarming, even more alarming is the growing cleavage between science and scientists as a whole and thegreat mass of humanity in other callings. The curriculum maker has the responsibility forsifting through the accumulated research in biologyto retrieve, by means of certain philosophical criteria, ideas andachievements in a quan- tity to occupy about 175 hours of instructiontheduration of an average high school course. Committees of scientists and educators have beenat work fo, over a half century to develop better instruction in science. They have recognized the desirability ofcourses suitable for the non- 3 ii PRECEDING PAGE :::7 ilLMED 4 BIOLOGICAL EDUCATION-COMMITTEE REPORTS specialist, the non-college oriented, the everyday citizen, who finds himself in a world where he cannot escape the need to un- derstand something of the nature of science. They have also seen the problem of providing an added intellectual stimulus in the sciences for those who plan to continue their education beyond high school and who may or may not be considering science as a career. The structure of high school coursespurposes, content and methodsneeded to accomplish the. ends has been the cause of much educational ferment. Curriculum problems are persistent and demand a continuots cycle cf appraisal, research and development. The cycle in sci- ence teaching must be shorter than for most school subjects; the dynamic characteristics of science make this obvious. Progress in science is closely related to the adequacy of un- derlying theory. The same may be said for the improvement of education. A first task in curriculum development is a definition