TOK and Internationalism in
the Science Classroom
John Green
Li Po Chun UWC
Ideally TOK teachers
and
TOK lessons
should not exist!
What is TOK about?
•
What does it mean to “know” something?
•
How do we get knowledge?
•
How certain are we of this knowledge?
•
How do factors relating to ourselves cause
our knowledge to differ from that of others?
The TOK Diagram
Skills based subjects
Some subjects seem to be more skills based.
The content is not vital as the skills learnt
can be applied to a wide range of material.
These subjects seem to almost necessarily
include a high proportion of TOK concepts
Literature, History, Fine arts
Content based subjects
Other subjects concentrate more on
acquiring new ideas and memorising new
material. In these, perhaps because of
time pressure, it requires a more conscious
effort to address TOK issues
Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Language
Clarifying a few ideas

Believing and Knowing
• Is it all to do with shared evidence?

The concept of Truth
• Is there such a thing as “absolute truth”?
• If so can we ever know it?
• If we cannot is it a useful concept?
The gods did not reveal, from the beginning
All things to us, but in the course of time
Through seeking we may learn and know
things better,
But as for certain truth, no man hath known
it,
Nor shall he know it, neither of the gods
Nor yet of all the things of which I speak,
For even if by chance he were to utter
The final truth, he would himself not know it:
For all is but a woven web of guesses Xenophanes
(translated by KarlPopper)
How do we get knowledge?

Empiricism
We observe the world around us and
remember our experiences

Rationalism
We apply logical thought processes

Mysticism
We experience inner feelings about the world
How do we get knowledge?

Authority
In practice we get most of our knowledge
because we accept what somebody else tells
us as being true

Revelation
A subset of authority, when we believe the
source of the knowledge speaks on behalf of
God
Why do we decide to accept
something as true?

Correspondence
It fits in with what we observe
“The colour of this text is blue”

Coherence
It fits in with other things we accept as true
“Your spouse was driving you car at 140 kph”
but
“The car is so old it cannot go more than 100 kph”
Problems of perception

Imprecise perception
Sitting next to the air-con in the theatre

Mistaken interpretation
Is it a star a planet or a plane?
What is the image on the right?
Problems of perception

Inappropriate filtering
With the flowers coming into
bloom and the birds singing it is
wonderful to be in Paris in the
the Springtime
Forms of Logic

Deductive Logic
Applies generalisations to a particular case
“TOK teachers hate marking essays, so John had
an unhappy time when he received 40 essays
just before the end of term”
Forms of Logic

Inductive Logic
Draws generalisations from observations
of specific cases
“Copper(II) nitrate is blue, copper ethanoate
is blue, copper(II) sulphate is blue. Perhaps
all copper(II) compounds are blue?”
TOK and Science
More specifically, what TOK
ideas apply to the teaching of
science?
What does Science try to do?


Elucidate a coherent law/system of laws
that governs the universe ?
This presupposes:
•
•
•
•
This is comprehensible to humans.
Cause and effect?
No variation with time?
Such a law/system of laws exists.
But surely this is doomed to failure?
How would we ever know that it was
the final truth; that we had reached the
end of our quest for knowledge?
Remember Xenophanes!
So is Science different?

•
•
•
•
•
Don’t all fields of knowledge try to explain
life, the universe and everything?
History - how and why humans have acted
Literature - how it feels to be in a particular situation
The Arts - alternative interpretations
Religion - maybe the next universe as well!
Maths - a possible exception?
Does it create its own universe?
Surely it is!

Doesn’t Science
•
•
•
•
Prove things true?
Help us to understand how the world works?
Enable us to predict accurately?
Test things through experiments?
What is truth, what is heat?
What is heat?
Certainty?

Is it true now?

Was it true then?

How can we know if something is true?
(i.e. certain for ever)

If absolute truth is not possible to achieve,
is it a useful concept?
Prove things are true?

Think of theories of the past caloric, phlogiston, spontaneous
creation etc.

Maybe only religion can offer us
truth and certainty in that sense?
Understand the World?

What do we mean by “understand”?

Do we simply draw analogies between
things we find difficult to visualise and
those we find easier to visualise?

Most of science is concerned with
models or paradigms
Models in Science

What purpose do we use models for – if they are
fit for the purpose is this a problem?
e.g. electrons being like planets orbiting the nucleus sun?

Do we sometimes confuse models with
Mnemonics?
Does Le Chatelier’s principle really help us understand
equilibrium better?
Models in Science
Above all we must be careful not to confuse
models and reality – do we know what atoms
are “really” like?
“The map is not the territory”
Alford Korzybski
Enable us to predict accurately?

100 million years ago could the theory of
evolution have predicted that humans would
evolve?

Doesn’t studying History allow us to predict
the future by studying the past?

Doesn’t studying Romeo and Juliet allow us to
predict that bad consequences result from feuds?
Test things through experiments?

How can you experiment in Astrophysics,
or Palaeontology?

Experiment occurs in almost all fields?
 Music
 Drama
 Microeconomics
and Macroeconomics?
Traditional Scientific Methodology
Probably originally
attributable to
Aristotle
Traditional Scientific Methodology
Revived in the
Renaissance by
Francis Bacon
Traditional Scientific Methodology
Observe
Hypothesise
Experiment
Evaluate
Traditional Scientific Methodology
Traditional Scientific Methodology

But is this how Science really works?
• Do we ever function as neutral observers?
• Do we really do experiments to prove a theory
is right?
• How often must a hypothesis be proved right
before it becomes a law?
Twentieth century thoughts
Karl Popper
We can never prove a
law right, we can only
prove it wrong
Science must make
testable predictions
Twentieth century thoughts
“Our belief in any particular
natural
law cannot have a safer basis
than
our unsuccessful critical
attempts
to refute it.”
Karl Popper
Twentieth century thoughts
Thomas Kuhn
Science advances by
means of slow
progress, then sudden
leaps forward called
“Paradigm Shifts”
The Periodic Table as an example
John Dalton’s
Atomic Theory
A Paradigm shift!
~1800
– All matter is composed of atoms
– There are different types of
atoms with different masses
– Atoms can combine together in
small whole numbers
The Periodic Table as an example
Döbreiner’s triads
1817
The element that has an atomic mass
that is the mean of two others
has similar chemical properties
The Periodic Table as an example
The Periodic Table as an example
1864
Newland’s Octaves
If the elements are placed in order of
increasing atomic mass,
every eighth element has similar properties
The Periodic Table as an example
The Periodic Table as an example
1869
Dmitry Mendeleev
Testable predictions!
Arranged the elements in order of
increasing atomic mass, but found
that in order to obtain periodicity,
gaps had to be left. He predicted
that new elements would be
discovered to fill these
Mendeleev’s Periodic Table
The coloured squares show the gaps that Mendeleev
predicted would be filled by new elements
Mendeleev’s Predictions
The Periodic Table today
Extended to new areas, e.g. the
electronic structure of atoms
This is something that science often
achieves, unifying ideas - similar to
Newton using gravity to explain things
falling and planetary motion
TOK encourages students to reflect
on questions such as these:
(From an official IB presentation)
“Is the scientific method a product unique
to Western culture, or is it universal?”
and maybe
“Do all cultures pursue science for the
same reasons?”
Which science topics might
show differences in cultural
values?

Environmental issues
• Global warming
• Whaling

Challenging accepted values
• Cloning
• Evolution
Internationalism in Science




Be aware of the different nationalities of
people who have contributed to your field of
science and deliberately introduce these.
Know what technological advances have been
made in different cultures and make students
aware of this.
In the past other civilisations were progressing
much more rapidly than the West.
Nowadays how many published scientific
papers have only workers from one culture?