Philosophy of Science Education Essay
As a pre-service science teacher, I believe that science in general and biology in
particular are inherently valuable. Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks of any teacher is that of
giving students in his or her class an appreciation for the value of an area of study. In developing
my understanding of my own philosophy of science education, I will explore the value of
learning and teaching biology, key and complex concepts in biology and how I might teach
them, the impact of the new Saskatchewan Science Curriculum, and methods and strategies that
lend themselves to teaching science.
In answering the question “what is science?” I have really been considering the question
“what is science to me?” Broadly, and from my own experience, science is a way of examining
the world. It is a process, accepted by most people as the process, by which we investigate and
come to conclusions about natural phenomena. In contrast to indigenous ways of knowing, it
might be referred to as the Western way of knowing. Sometimes criticized for its non-holistic,
reductionist nature, the processes and methods of science have nonetheless helped us to explain
all manner of observable phenomena.
In terms of its value to me, studying science has taught me how to ask questions, and how
to think. I feel that developing scientific literacy should be a necessary part of children’s formal
education. To me, scientific literacy means one’s ability to interpret science-related news and the
ability to think critically about science-related information. The students of today will soon be
voters and taxpayers in a highly science- and technology-driven world, so it is important that
they develop an understanding of the nature and value of science.
Biology is that field of science concerned with the study of living things, and is
wonderfully broad and interdisciplinary, frequently overlapping with chemistry and biochemistry
(e.g. cellular biology), geology (biogeochemistry), and physics (biological oceanography). I
think that learning biology is important because it is very relevant in terms of understanding
topics in health, environmental issues, and how living things work. It also ties easily into outdoor
education and can increase one’s knowledge about and appreciation of nature. I want to teach
biology because I want to share its value with students. During my first degree, I spent three
years acting as a supplemental instruction leader for introductory biology courses. I know that I
enjoy trying to make biology relevant to students, and seeing students start thinking in the
context of its fundamental concepts.
Arguably the most important concept in biology is that of evolution and its primary
mechanism natural selection. Tied to it are the concepts of inheritance and genetics. These are
essential for students’ understanding of biology as they provide that context for all of biology.
Evolution and natural selection are always used to inform scientists’ understanding, whether they
are studying animal behaviour, environmental concerns, or novel flu strain pandemics. I think
that the ability to look assess new information through the lens of evolution is an important
aspect of scientific literacy.
During my own learning, and during my involvement in supplemental instruction, I
formed an understanding of what practices work well for teaching and learning biology. In order
to teach students about complex topics in biology, it is firstly important, as it is with any
discipline, to discover students’ existing knowledge and understanding of them. I think that preassessment is crucial in that it gives the teacher a starting point. Many students arrive in a new
class with gaps in knowledge or misconceptions and misunderstandings. Conceptual change
seems much more difficult to accomplish than concept attainment, and much more likely. In
order to accomplish it, it is important that teachers understand where students are coming from.
It is also important to move from the simple to the complex. In education, we regularly
talk about scaffolding and the importance of meeting students where they are at, and biology is
no different. It is really helpful to try to view the concept with fresh eyes and imagine what could
cause confusion if one were learning it for the first time. In the long term, some of this probably
comes with experience. I think that using assessment for and as learning are ways to uncover
common sources of confusion that could help me improve my teaching not only in that semester,
but in the years to come.
Although it can be hard in biology to find good hands-on activities for traditionally dry
topics, they are probably the best way to learn about complex concepts. Technology can be
useful here as a lot can be done with probe-ware and computer simulations (eg virtual labs where
students can visualize the process of natural selection and evolution). I have also found that
models work really well. Too often, students are asked to learn about and understand abstract
concepts that can be easily modelled. I found that Biology 100 students understood mitosis,
meiosis, and chromosome crossing over much better when they got a chance to apply their
understanding with Lego chromosomes that I put together.
It is also important for teachers to use analogy and real-world examples to help students
connect content to their everyday lives. In my experience, most of the knowledge that I have
retained over a long period is that which is tied to something memorable. I once took a course
from a professor who taught plant physiology like a story-teller, and he made many of the
concepts and facts in that course unforgettable. I have also seen cooperative learning be very
helpful in making learning engaging and memorable.
While I agree that linear thinking can be limiting, I have found that the order in which
content is taught can have a big influence on student understanding. For instance, cellular
respiration is usually taught “start to finish”, from glucose and glycolysis to ATP synthase and
ATP. This process seems so long and complicated to students that by the time they get to the
end, they forget what the point of the process was. When I presented the process backwards and
showed students what to focus on (the outcomes and reasons for each part of the process),
students understood it much better.
Finally, biology is very terminology-heavy. I disagree with the expectation that students
should learn terminology through definitions. I think that new terminology should be introduced
slowly and avoided if unnecessary, because it can cause confusion and can draw students’ focus
away from what teachers intend that they learn. Excessive introduction of terminology can also
be a barrier to student understanding when students are already struggling with English language
skills (EAL students).
The introduction of excessive terminology, in addition to being cumbersome and
confusing to students, is also something that can encourage memorization over understanding. I
think that memorization can be valuable – regardless of what “new math” proponents say, I see a
lot of value in memorizing math facts – but that it is extremely limiting. Understanding is much
more valuable because it useful for more than just one set of content in particular. It gives people
the ability to better examine and interpret new information and is can be much more lasting than
memorization. The process of learning and discovering is typically more important than the
content anyway, and this process should contribute to the development of one’s critical thinking
skills. It is also much more beneficial than memorization when it comes to developing one’s
scientific literacy.
It does seem like it will be much easier to make learning biology relevant to students with
the recent changes to the Saskatchewan Science Curriculum. I have heard some criticism with
regards to the existence of the curriculum in general but feel very strongly that it is highly
valuable to teachers, because educators do need to be able to justify the content and assessmentrelated choices they make. I think the new changes to the curriculum will encourage teachers to
be more interdisciplinary and makes it less intimidating. They will also make it easier for
students’ to link course material with their everyday lives, because students will go into a course
with a much better appreciation of how the course will be help them. Hopefully this will get rid
of the “why are we learning this” question.
Overall, I believe that secondary science should be taught with a number of things in
mind. The classroom should be a trusting, safe environment where being wrong and making
mistakes are considered a part of learning. I also think that, while hands-on inquiry-based
learning is a great way to teach the nature of science, secondary science teachers should also
consider the importance of differentiating their instructional strategies because not everyone is
going to learn best that way. I intend to use anecdotes and examples to help students make
connections because I know that it worked well for me. I also want to use questioning as I think
it is a great way to stimulate student thinking and keep them involved in instruction, and I feel
strongly that students should be active participants in their learning. Finally, I want to use varied
evaluative assessment methods.
At this point, I have formed my philosophy of science education primarily through my
experiences first as a science student and then as an education student. Although I have some
experience working with students who struggle in biology, I expect that my ideas will likely
change once I have been back in a high school science classroom. Primarily, I want the students I
teach to improve their scientific literacy and gain an appreciation for the natural phenomena
present in their lives. My understanding of the value of learning and teaching biology will
probably not change during my pre-internship, but I do think that ideas of how biological
concepts are best taught and learned may change. I also hope to familiarize myself with a variety
of instructional strategies (not exclusively inquiry and questioning) that will help me best reach
students and teach science.