Abstract
Science educators are increasingly using a historical approach to pedagogy as a way to enable students to understand the process of the construction of science in a more contextualized manner. Considering the meaning of context in a broader sense, this article has two objectives. First, it aims to explore how physics lessons using a Cultural History of Science approach allowed the development of activities that encouraged students to have discussions about science where their own socio-cultural context was considered, referring to Brazilian scientific production. Second, the article to investigate which understandings about scientific practices could be developed by students from in-class discussions inspired by the Cultural History of Science approach focusing on a historical and students’ own social contexts. The historical episode selected to be introduced in their physics lessons was the development of the Leiden jar in Europe, in the eighteenth century, focusing on the quotidian practices and habits that enabled the construction and use of this artifact. The lessons developed from the Cultural History approach seemed to allow the students to understand that science was developed by many different social actors, in sites that exceed the laboratory and by actions performed in various dimensions. The findings suggest that this approach in science teaching can be a strategy to historically contextualize the development of science while allowing students to reflect about the scientific production in their social context.
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Notes
In addition to standard high school, students attend courses that provide them with technical training. Instead of the standard duration of 3 years for high school in Brazil, for the conclusion of high school (integrated to the technician), the student takes 4 years.
The professor-researcher spent the previous semester at the Europa-Universität Flensburg (Germany) researching along with the institution’s group on History of Science and historical experiments with emphasis on the replication method (Heering 2007).
The scientific knowledge that much attracted the general public involved anatomy and electricity (Roberts 1999; Bertucci 2007). Demonstration of electricity experiments in the eighteenth century used different artifacts, such as an electrostatic machine and an electric condenser (Bertucci 2006; Bertucci 2008).
Artur Avila is the only Latin American to win the Fields Medal as of 2014. The Fields Medal and the Nobel prize were chosen as themes due to their visibility. In addition, The Fields Medal was highlighted because no Brazilian has been awarded a Nobel as of this writing.
Foundation of the Ministry of Education (MEC) is responsible for the expansion and consolidation of post-graduate studies—master’s and doctoral degrees—all over Brazil.
These Leiden jars were the reconstruction of those that were the most popular in Europe in the eighteenth century. Different from the ones constructed by Musschenbroek and Kleist, these jars had a metallic coating.
Researcher 1 stayed one semester at Europa-Universität Flensburg (Germany) researching along with the institution’s group on History of Science and historical experiments with emphasis on this replication method (Heering, 2007). However, there was no condition in the school to replica the Leiden jar with the students.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Professor Dr. Peter Heering for the collaboration in several stages of the work developed and the University of Flensburg for receiving us in their laboratories of History of Science. We also thank CAPES and CNPQ for all financial support for the development of the research. We would also like to thank our research group, NIEHCC (https://niehcc.wordpress.com/), for all the support during the entire process.
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This study was financially supported by CAPES and CNPQ.
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Jardim, W.T., Guerra, A. & Schiffer, H. History of Science in Physics Teaching. Sci & Educ 30, 609–638 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-020-00191-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-020-00191-x