Is it good time to start thinking science differently? Is it good time to start teaching science differently?

1. Thinking Science
through
teachers’ experiences
with
digital technologies
in Finland and Greece
M. Vivitsou, K. Tirri & H. Kynäslahti
Department of Teacher Education
University of Helsinki

2. A few words about the study
Our study kicks off to gain an understanding of science
educators’ pedagogical thinking. They are two Computer
Science teachers and one in Technology from Greece, one
Biology teacher from Finland and two Finnish researchers
specializing in Science education. All of them either use
digital technologies in practice, or they do research on
the pedagogical use of technologies, or both.
As the landscape in science education changes radically,
we decided to look into the different aspects of teaching
science or science-related subjects (e.g., through
environmental projects) with technologies, as they come
up in the teachers’ interviews.

3. The content analysis of findings shows that the participants
of the study shift away from a mode of thinking that could
be described as thinking for ‘certainty’. Instead, according
to the analysis, the teachers’ thinking reflects the ‘new’
reality of scientific developments. In the current era, one
should think twice before arguing in favor of a law of
nature. What used to be considered as natural law can no
longer be taken for granted. As a result, we might just as
well start thinking about the current era as ‘the age of
uncertainty’. Similarly, the teachers in the study raise
doubts about what are best ways for thinking and teaching
science.

4. The images selected for this presentation represent exactly
this notion, that in teaching science established practices
can no longer be taken for granted.
The curriculum cannot just keep on giving suggestions for
the teaching of scientific subjects as isolated phenomena;
instead, we should start thinking about flexible, blended,
dynamic curricula.
Reading books is not enough and cannot substitute lab work.
Learning science is better learning when students are
connected with peers.
Learning science is better when learning together.
Learning science is better learning when is embodied and
occurring outdoors.

5. Understanding
Science
Teachers’
Experiences
Of digital
technologies
In practice

6. Science as Thinking

7. As a way to view
the world from a
holistic
perspective =
Teaching natural
phenomena as a
whole, ‘not just
objects’
(Finnish science
education
researcher)

8. As knowledge
construction-
‘scientific’ way
Of thinking (e.g.,
experimentation,
measurement,
gathering data,
deriving rules,
calculations,
formulas)

9. As goal-oriented,
hard work,
creating
tensions
(Tension =
how to
translate
‘scientific
knowledge
into practical
thinking about
e.g., space
and time’)
(Greek
Technology
teacher)

10. Science
is
every
where;
but
is it
for
every
one?

11. It seems that in the first category (Science as thinking) there
is conflict in the way teachers approach science.
On the one hand they view science as a whole, on the other
they say that knowledge creation, or knowing, becomes
possible only when the so-called ‘scientific way’ is followed.
Another point that could lead to further discussion is the way
hard work is separated from imaginative and creative
thinking. These are more likely to appear in a human-science-
subject rather than in studying the natural sciences.
One more issue that levels up is the relation between
science and women. Do female students have equal
opportunities to learn sciences at school?

12. In the second main category (Science as method) there is
a clear focus on internet and social media and connective
technologies as tools and as spaces that sustain the
teaching and learning of science.
Here another ‘tension’ comes up as the networking of
students with peers from, for example, other countries,
is seen as an opportunity for social bonding, collaboration
and knowledge co-construction. The boundaries of
teaching and learning science become blurry when
human relations surface as parts of the game.
Therefore, the tension is where the objective, free from
value, neutral face of science is put in question.
So is the teaching of science and related subjects when
based on methodologies that ignore the current needs of
learners.

13. Science as Method

14. Science
teachers
think that
technologies
package
both hopes
and fears
into the
teaching of
science with
technologies

15. HOPE:
Social
networki
ng
enriches
the
content
of school
learning

16. HOPE:
Learning
With
social
networks
draws
from
cultural
landscapes

17. HOPE:
Science-related
subjects
+
Connective
Technologies
=
a human
relationship
building
approach

18. FEAR:
Internet
boundaries
are blurry
=
What is
a
‘fact’?

19. FEAR:
‘I don’t
want to
Feed my
own values
to my
Students’
(Finnish
Biology
teacher)

20. FEAR:
‘What
professional
development
are we talking
about?’
(Greek
Computer
Science
teachers)

21. Finally,
what
Certainty
Are we
talking
about?
Is it
good time
to
start
thinking
science
differently?
Is it
good time
to
start
teaching
science
differently?

22. Science takes
place in a
historical
process.
Science is
contextual.
Scientific
achievements
are NOT
neutral.
Students
have the
right to
KNOW

23. In the age of uncertainty…
Image credit:
http://smashinghub.com/30-brilliant-surreal-photo-manipulation-artworks.htm
http://www.templates.com/blog/stunning-cg-surrealism-from-origin-to-modernity/