Hands-on Image Processing Biology (HIP Biology)
Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science (Steinmetz)
History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science (HPSS) or History and Philosophy of Science (HPS)
HOSC: History of Science Cases
Hands-on Image Processing Biology (HIP Biology)
A product of the Image Processing for Teaching Project (IPT) at the University of Arizona-Tucson which was funded in part by the National Science Foundation. HIP Biology activities represent a collaborative effort between members of the IPT project team, students, educators, and scientists.
Hands-on Image Processing is "a new world of exciting discovery based on real-life data from research laboratories, medical facilities, and the world around us." Students will use this powerful tool for learning fundamental concepts in the different fields of science.
Activities use image processing software developed by scientists to explore a variety of biological images, including x-rays, Magnetic Resonance Images, scanning electron micrographs, DNA electrophoretic gels, microscopic photographs, and 3-D micrographs. Because these activities are modeled after real-world scientific processes, students also learn about real-life applications in biology. (HIP Biology, 1996).
Drawing from a constructivist view of knowledge and learning, this philosophy guides when and how to use a broad range of teaching strategies for addressing diversity in contemporary classrooms. Under constructivist principles, students individually or in groups manipulate objects, apply various facets of their intelligence for the purpose of understanding, and are held accountable for their observations, inferences and conclusions (Flick, 1993).
Specific instructional methods where students manipulate materials in order to learn a concept e.g. hands-on science activity; in this regard hands-on science can be part of general instructional design other than Constructivism.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/eric/eric-toc.htm
Hands on Science Partnership is an organization dedicated to:
• Ensuring effective science education materials and curriculum
• Providing quality professional development
• Stimulating and creative environments
• Teaching students to think like scientists
"As the first advocacy group for the growth of hands-on teaching and learning in the United States, we are working to develop the next generation of innovators."
http://handsonsciencepartnership.com/
A modular curriculum program involving 4th to 8th grade students, which fits into current health, science and physical education programs. The program provides hands-on, discovery- approach activities to students as they investigate how their own bodies function. It consists of 64 student-centered activities grouped into 12 modules covering important areas of health, safety and nutrition. Each module topic represents 4-6 weeks of class activity. Topics include: Breathing Fitness; Sight and Sound; Heart Fitness; Environmental Health and Safety; Balance in Movement; Skin Temperature; Flexibility and Strength; Personal Health Decisions; Nutritional/Dental Health; and Action/Reaction.
Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science
Conant, James B. and Leonard K. Nash (editors) (1964)
Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science, volume 1-2. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
The Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science were designed with the philosophy that a "person that has been a successful investigator in any field of experimental science approaches a problem in pure and applied science with a special point of view" (Conant, 1964). The Harvard Case Histories were designed for use in college classes for students majoring in the humanities and social sciences. The two-volume set was made available to the general reading public. People using the case histories would "recapture" the experiences of scientists and gain insight into the scientific method of investigation, ideas and working hypothesis, and testing deductions from conceptual schemes. They would then apply this methodology to solve or advance their own unique problem.
Heuristics is the learning of methods and procedures that can be helpful in solving new problems. Hamachek (1990) and De Boer (1991) use the works of Jerome Bruner as reference for learning enhancement. De Boer (1991) quotes Bruner, "He identified for example the need to have a thorough grasp of the fundamental nature of the subject field within which the problem solver was working, the importance of self confidence on the part of the intuitive thinker, the need to provide students with an opportunity to make guesses based on intuitive hunches, and the likelihood that teaching generalized problem solving would enhance intuitive thought." In this methodology teachers encourage students to learn, discover, understand, and solve problems on their own, as by experimenting, evaluating, and by trial and error. The teacher can apply heuristics throughout the curriculum and let children learn by having them discover things for themselves.
History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science (HPSS) or History and Philosophy of Science (HPS)
Two interchangeable terms referring to a movement within the field of science education that "advocates a contextual approach," the integration of history, philosophy, and sociology of science into the curriculum and into the preparation of science teachers. Inclusion of these aspects is a response to discipline-based teaching of science that focuses primarily on science content with only passing reference to the nature of science.
Advocates of HPSS feel that the approach can:
HOSC: History of Science Cases
Sometimes referred to as History of Science Cases for Schools (HOSCS), History of Science Cases for High Schools, or the History of Science Cases Instruction Method. HOSC advocates a high level of integration of the nature of science in the teaching of science. Taking its cue from the case study tradition in the teaching of law and medicine, a case study in science involves a detailed look at the story of a scientific development as it unfolded historically, including the personalities involved, in context with the times, the communication with other scientists, along with the fits and starts of developing ideas, experiments, and discoveries. Inspired by the work of Fletcher G. Watson and James B. Conant, HOSC was developed by Leopold E. Klopfer (1964), beginning in 1956, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, based on the successful model established by James B. Conant's Harvard Case Studies in Experimental Science. Klopfer and his associates developed and tested eight case studies for use at the high school level. After establishing its viability in an experimental edition published in 1960 by the Department of School Services and Publications at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, the program was commercially published by Science Research Associates (SRA) in Chicago 1966-66, and then later by Wadsworth in San Francisco (1969). Despite initial success, HOSC turns out to have been one of the programs that rarely persisted for very long and left little trace on the science education landscape. (Matthews, 1994).
High school curriculum project developed in the 1960's, which utilized a history of science approach to present a "humanistically-oriented" introductory physics course to attract a larger number and wider variety of students. During the mid-1970's, as many as 20% of high school physics students followed the HPP curriculum. Research suggests that while HPP did effectively improve students' attitudes toward physics, it did not effectively increase student enrollment in high school physics classes nationwide. Cuts in funding which helped support teacher training for this unique course probably assisted in its gradual decline. Holt, Rinehard and Winston published several editions of HPP from 1970 to 1981. (Brush, 1989; Russel, 1981; Holton, Rutherford, Watson, 1975; NSF, 1969).
Considered by many the father of modern science education, as he has been active in science education from the 1930's to the present, most recently in his affiliation with Stanford University. In 1958, he was one of the first to use the term scientific literacy, defining it as "an understanding of science and its applications to our social experience" (De Boer, 1991, p. 174). Through many generations he has been an advocate of reform. In 1986, he identified the need "to establish criteria for identifying the knowledge and intellectual skills necessary for a reformulation of the curriculum" (Hurd, 1986, p. 357). In the 1990's work was begun to establish those standards.
English biologist (1825-1895) instrumental in promoting the development of formal science study at the secondary level. Among his arguments in defense of science study were the modernization of curriculum, the usefulness of science study for all people and the value of a mind trained with scientific thinking. During his time the school curriculum consisted of classical studies of mathematics, reading, writing, and the classical languages of Greek and Latin. He advocated science through direct observation, stating, "If scientific education is to be dealt with as mere bookwork, it will be better not to attempt it, but to stick to the Latin Grammar which makes not pretense to be anything but bookwork." (Huxley,1899, p.125). While science education was incorporated into the curriculum, many of his recommendations, especially concerning study through direct observation, were not followed.
An informed prediction which attempts to describe or explain. Depending on its intent, a hypothesis, if well-supported with observation or experiment (or both), may eventually become a scientific law (description) or scientific theory (explanation). Forming a hypothesis is guessing; it is a creative, non-logical, non-empirical process. (Hempel, 1966; Rachelson, 1977; Wallace, 1971).