Mollie Deuel's Teaching Portfolio
The History of Science
1) Why integrate the History of Biology?
Teaching the history of biology allows for a captivating story to hook the students into whatever they are learning about. Teaching the history also allows the students to follow the journey that a scientist or scientists took to reach a conclusion or a presently accepted paradigm. This is beneficial because it outlines how the scientific method was carried out in a real life example and puts an emphasis on the process of science as a collaborative effort and not just the known facts that are in our textbooks. It is important for students to understand that scientists, more often than not, make mistakes and have to continually revise their work. This puts the nature of science into a more realistic lens for the students and shows that science is continually evolving.
2) How the study of Biology has evolved throughout history.
Biology is the study of living things and has arguably been studied since the beginning of human existence. Some of the first recorded evidence that we have of biological studies are form Ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Theophrastus, who recorded their observations and inferences about animals and plant respectively. In early history there is documentation from many different cultures about the study of countless medicinal practices and other macro-biological findings. During the 17th and 18th century the development of Microscopes and other various technologies expanded the Biological field to a micro level study. From then on, the field of cell and microbiology as well as the field of genetics has grown immensely. Today there are more than 24 branches of biology including cell biology, virology (the study of viruses), biotechnology and ecology. With the exponential increase in the quality of technology that has been invented in the last hundred years or so, I predict that the biological field of studies will continue to expand greatly in the future and that it is important to get young scholars interested, so that they can help facilitate the growth of this essential scientific field of science.
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For a PowerPoint outline of the evolution of the scientific field of Biology and a timeline of contributions from various women to the field of biology, click HERE.
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3) Three teaching strategies/instructional models for teaching the history of science:
The Recurrent Approach
The recurrent strategy stresses the notion of the nature of science that our ideas of scientific concepts and theories are constantly developing and evolving based on new research and evidence. There are four steps that a teacher needs to take when preparing a recurrent strategy lesson. The first step is to identify and prioritize objectives for students. It is not necessary to address all the possible objectives that could be covered with a historical account. The second step is selecting an episode or historical recount that will hit your targeted objectives. The third step is for the teacher and entails learning about the episode. The teacher should utilize primary sources (if available) and secondary accounts of the episode. The teacher should know enough to be able to introduce the episode, identify possible misconceptions and address them in the activities and closing discussion. It should get students thinking and reasoning in a similar manner to past scientists to bring them to the modern day conclusion. The last step is implementation. It takes a lot of planning and must provide a problem scenario with some detail, but not too much.
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The Storyline Approach
This approach to teaching the history of science entails using a fictional narrative from the perspective of the scientists throughout history who contributed to different scientific paradigms. It is a great method for showing that every concept in science has grown slowly over time and that inventions and discoveries in science are a collaborative effort where a multitude of researchers continuously build on previous ideas.
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The Argumentation Approach
This approach entails providing students with disagreeing scientific theories and explinations for certain scientific concepts and then having them defend one of the conflicting sides. Typically, students are presented with the initial controversy, then they investigate the evidence they’re presented with, and lastly they are slowly provided with more evidence, after they’ve already developed their arguments base on the initial evidence. This approach helps students understand where the original scientists were coming from with the limited knowledge and understanding they had before the final piece of evidence/theory was introduced. It also emphasizes that science is constantly evolving based on new discoveries and evidence provided by many different scientists. This approach also facilitates the students in learning how to navigate controversies by engaging in discourse, which is an important skill that can be taught through the use of historical controversies. It is important that students can sift through evidence, weigh the “facts” from each side of an argument, and then make an educated decision based on their investigation.
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4) Resources:
A PowerPoint outlining various resources that can be used to teach the history of biology and the specific standards they each hit:
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A website outlining the history of the various branches of biology:
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