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CONSTRUCTIVISM in SCIENCE EDUCATION Constructivism in Science Education a Philosophical Examination

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CONSTRUCTIVISM in SCIENCE EDUCATION Constructivism in Science Education a Philosophical Examination CONSTRUCTIVISM IN SCIENCE EDUCATION Constructivism in Science Education A Philosophical Examination edited by MICHAEL R. MATTHEWS School of Education Studies, The University of New South Wales SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Constructivism in science educatlon : a phl1osophlcal examlnatlon I edlted by Mlchael R. Matthews. p. cm. Includes blbliographical references and index. ISBN 978·0·7923·4924·2 ISBN 978·94·011·5032·3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978·94·011·5032·3 1. SCience--Study and teachlng--Phl1osophy. 2. Constructivlsm (Philosophy) I. Matthews. Mlchael R. C181.C612 1998 507'.1--dc21 97-47347 ISBN 978-0-7923-4924-2 Printed on acid-free paper AII Rights Reserved © 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1998 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover lst edition 1998 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner. to Wallis Suchting (1931-1997) friend and teacher TABLE OF CONTENTS SOURCES viii PREFACE ............................................................ ix MICHAEL R. MATIHEWS / Introductory Comments on Philosophy and Constructivism in Science Education ..................................... 1 ERNST VON GLASERSFELD / Cognition, Construction of Knowledge, and Teaching . .. 11 ROBERT NOLA / Constructivism in Science and in Science Education: A Philosophical Critique ............................................. 31 WALLIS A. SUCHTING / Constructivism Deconstructed . .. 61 ERNST VON GLASERSFELD / Constructivism Reconstructed: A Reply to Suchting .......................................................... 93 MARK H. BICKHARD / Constructivisms and Relativisms: A Shopper's Guide 99 RICHARD E. GRANDY / Constructivisms and Objectivity: Disentangling Metaphysics from Pedagogy ......................................... 113 HELGE KRAGH / Social Constructivism, the Gospel of Science, and the Teaching of Physics . .. 125 DENIS C. PHILLIPS / Coming to Terms with Radical Social Constructivisms . .. 139 PETER SLEZAK / Sociology of Scientific Knowledge and Science Education 159 WALLIS SUCHTING / Reflections on Peter Slezak: and the 'Sociology of Scientific Knowledge' .............................................. 189 MICHAEL R. MATTHEWS / Educational Constructivism and Philosophy: Some References .................................................. 217 NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS ..................................... 225 NAME INDEX ...................................................... 227 SUBJECT INDEX . .. 231 SOURCES Matthews, M .R.: 1997, 'Introductory Comments on Philosophy and Constructivism in Science Education', Science & Education 6( 1-2), 5-14. Glasersfeld, E. von: 1989, 'Cognition, Construction of Knowledge and Teaching', Synthese 80( 1), 121-140. Nola, R.: 1997, 'Constructivism in Science and in Science Education: A Philosophical Critique', Science & Education 6(1-2),55-83. Suchting, W.A.: 1992, 'Constructivism Deconstructed', Science & Education 1(3), 223-254. Glasersfeld, E. von: 1992, 'Constructivism Reconstructed: A Reply to Suchting', Science & Education 1(4),379-384. Bickhard, M.H.: 1997, 'Constructivism and Relativisms: A Shopper's Guide', Science & Education 6(1-2), 29-42. Grandy, R.E.: 1997, 'Constructivism and Objectivity: Disentangling Metaphysics from Pedagogy', Science & Education 6(1-2), 43-53. Kragh, H.: 1998, 'Social Constructivism, the Gospel of Science and the Teaching of Physics', Science & Education 7(3) Phillips, D.C.: 1997, 'Coming to Terms with Radical Social Constructivisms', Science & Education 6( 1-2), 85-104. Slezak, P.: 1994a, 'Sociology of Science and Science Education: Part 1', Science & Education 3(3),265-294. Suchting, W.A.: 1997, 'Reflections on Peter Slezak and the "Sociology of Scientific Knowledge"', Science & Education 6(1-2), 151-195. Note: pps. 156-170 of this 1997 article are not included in the paper published in this anthology. PREFACE All of these papers, with the exception of one, have been published in the journal Science & Education, a bimonthly research journal associated with the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group. The exception, Ernst von Glasersfeld's 'Cognition, Construction of Knowledge, and Teaching' was published in a special issue of the journal Synthese which was prepared for the International Group's first conference at Florida State University in 1989. The International Group aims to improve school and university science education by making it more informed by the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. The Group has a particular interest in bringing history, philosophy and sociology of science into teacher-education programmes, and in applying these disciplines to theoretical and pedagogical issues in science education. This book brings together the work of philosophers, historians of science, cognitive psychologists and educators in an effort to situate the epistemological claims of constructivism in the history of philosophical ideas, and to advance the understanding and evaluation of constructivist claims in science education. The Introduction mentions some of the philosophical issues raised by constructivism, and by the spread of constructivism from its learning-theory core into epistemology, educational theory and ethics. Ernst von Glasersjeld, formerly professor of psychology at the University of Georgia and now a member of the Institute for Scientific Reasoning at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, argues for a radical constructivist view of scientific and personal knowledge, a view which traces its lineage to Vico and which is instrumentalist and anti-realist. Robert Nola, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Auckland draws on the history of epistemology to provide a philosophical critique of some constructivist writing in education. Wallis Suchling, formerly an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Sydney, provides a detailed and critical commentary on the radical constructivist position of Ernst von Glasersfeld. Among other things he contends that empiricism, in any form, is an inadequate epistemology for science. Ernst von Glasersfeld replies to this criticism by defending instrumentalism and its notion of viability as the criterion of knowledge in science and personal life. Mark Bickhard, a professor of cognitive science and philosophy at Lehigh University, elaborates a taxonomy of constructivism and, as a constructivist, suggests that the position is not tied to relativism or to idealism, both of which he claims need to be rejected. Richard Grandy, a professor of philosophy at Rice University, addresses the important question of disentangling the philosophy and metaphysics of constructivism from its pedagogical practice. He says that the claims of cognitive constructivism need to be distinguished from those of metaphysical constructivism, and that cognitive constructivism has strong empirical support and suggests important new directions for the conduct of science education. Beige Kragh, a professor of the history of science at the University of Aarhus, poses a number of difficulties for social constructivist analyses of the history of science, difficulties that do not confront realist interpretations. He maintains that the rejection of social constructivism does not entail the rejection of social or historical studies of science, and urges the inclusion of these in the x PREFACE science curriculum. Denis Phillips, a professor of education and of philosophy at Stanford University, writes critically on social constructivism, saying that strong and exciting, but untenable, claims are advanced, and then frequently qualified to the level oftritenesss. Peter Slezak, a senior lecturer in cognitive science and philosophy of science at the University of New South Wales, recognises that the core claims of the Edinburgh strong programme in the sociology of scientific knowledge, if true, have a major impact on the traditional rationale for science education in schools, but argues that these claims are flawed. Wallis Suchting, in a second contribution, provides a detailed analysis of Peter Slezak's argument against social constructivism, and defends the core of David Bloor's social constructivist account against Slezak's criticisms. Suchting sketches an epistemological position that avoids the errors of rationalism on the one hand, and social constructivism on the other, while embracing their respective strengths. The book concludes with a hundred-item Bibliography of articles and books that have addressed philosophical issues in educational constructivism. Constructi vism is a very influential theory of science education. In the past three decades there have been over five thousand scholarly articles published on aspects of constructivism and education, countless conference presentations have been made, there have been scores of books on the subject, and at least one book series devoted to exploring the ramifications for education of constructivist learning theory and epistemology. The Preface of a 1993 American Association for the Advancement of Science anthology on The Practice of Constructivism in Science Teaching says that 'there is widespread acceptance of constructivism' and that constructivism represents a 'paradigm change' in science education.
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