About this item
A former Wisconsin high school science teacher makes the case that how and why we teach science matters, especially now that its legitimacy is under attack.Why teach science? The answer to that question will determine how it is taught. Yet despite the enduring belief in this country that science should be taught, there has been no enduring consensus about how or why.This is especially true when it comes to teaching scientific process. Nearly all of the basic knowledge we have about the world is rock solid. The science we teach in high schools in particular -- laws of motion, the structure of the atom, cell division, DNA replication, the universal speed limit of light -- is accepted as the way nature works. Everyone also agrees that students and the public more generally should understand the methods used to gain this knowledge.
About the Author
John Rudolph is Professor of Science Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A former middle school and high school science teacher, Rudolph studies the history of science education in America and the way the nature and process of science is taught in schools. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in curriculum and instruction and has a masters degree in the history of science as well. He is currently chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Wisconsin and has affiliate appointments in the Department Educational Policy Studies and in the Robert and Jean Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies. He is the past editor-in-chief of the Wiley & Sons journal Science Education.Professor Rudolph's work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation, and he was awarded a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2004. He has also received awards from the History of Education Society and the American Educational Research Association.
