Why Do We Teach Science?

by Jack Hassard

In this eBook, we explore the question why do we teach science? The reasons for teaching science are not as clear as one may think. Much of the reform going on right now does not address the question directly. What one has to do is examine the goals of a particular curriculum or reform report, and then infer what the authors would say if asked, why do we teach science in the first place? In Part I, we use a model developed by R. Stephen Turner to explore four arguments including the economic argument, the democratic argument, the skills argument, and the cultural argument.In part two of the book, we raise the question, what do we teach? To answer this question, we suggest two Visions for teaching science, a traditional vision and a humanistic vision. In the new Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards we find that there appears to be a conflict between the desire to standardize the curriculum and foster innovation.In the third part, we explore how do we teach science? Insights are drawn from humanistic learning, engineering, native science, and experiential learning to draw a picture for the need to re-think how we teach science.

46 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 11, 2012

About the author

Jack Hassard, Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Science Education at Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia. He is an internationally known science educator, researcher and writer. His books include Minds on Science, The Art of Teaching Science, The Whole Cosmos Catalogue of Science, Science as Inquiry, Environmental Science on the Net.

He’s been blogging since 2005 at jackhassard.org. His blog writing served as the foundation for The Trump Files. His book is a vivid, real-time documentation of the nation’s turbulent Trump years returning citizens to those troubling days of not-so-very-long-ago to help deal with the future.

Jack Hassard has also spent an adventurous career as a “Citizen Diplomat”, traveling extensively through Russia and the world, creating courses, exchanging democratic views on psychology, medicine, sociology, and other subjects needed for a peaceful coexistence and to prevent war.

As the cover of his new book, The Trump Files portends, we are living in a world that has been turned on its head. There are no alternate facts! There are many books out now on the Trump years, but this one comes from a practical and extensive wisdom that should not be missed.