SCIENCE
TEACHER AND SOCIETY
Prepared by
SABARISH-P
M.Sc., M.Ed., JRF & NET
Assistant Professor in Physical Science, Arafa Institute for Teacher Education
Attur, Thrissur.
Science
teachers in a society impart knowledge on day-to-day facts and reason out
things which are observed and provide the students the power to question and
interpret their knowledge and suggestions.
Science
helps the student to acknowledge the facts based on experiments, observations
and inferences, which is a judgment based on evidence. Science teacher keeps
the pupils away from guesses and superstitions thus allowing the students to
realize that misconceptions about some of the concepts are wrong and unreal;
Science
teachers by making the students work with materials found in their environment
and solving problems stimulate the curiosity of the students and ensure that
the students do not get satisfied with vague explanations of things.
Science
teachers can inculcate scientific attitudes, temper and habits in the students.
Inculcation of scientific attitudes into the students encourages them to view
facts objectively and free themselves from superstitions, thus developing an
ability to think, imagine and be creative.
Science
teachers instill knowledge on good habits of cleanliness, personal hygiene, and
social hygiene. Science teachers are therefore a source of motivation for
students to think independently. Science teachers thus enable students to
discover new ideas and apply them to the world we live.
Science
teachers thus can be considered as a great boon to the society that we live in.
ROLE OF SCIENCE TEACHER IN
ERADICATING MISCONCEPTIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS IN SOCIETY
Science teachers play a central role in
educating, inspiring, and guiding students to become responsible,
scientifically literate citizens. Science gives people a logical way of
thinking. To understand science, education is important. Science provides
evidence to support its claims through research and experiments. Science has
removed a lot of superstition and it continues to do so.
Superstition is referred to as any belief which
is unexplained, which is in contradiction to modern science and that cannot be
proved. They are merely assumptions based on personal opinion, which may become
popular. These beliefs arise out of fear and sometimes from
helplessness. These beliefs have existed since the
earliest days of mankind. Many of them have no scientific basis and are not
linked to any particular religious faith. There
are various superstitions followed by people especially in our country, certain
superstitions such as fortune telling, solar and lunar eclipses, witches,
considering widows as in auspicious, and so on.
Other examples are the spirit of the dead person visiting the house
seven days following the death, seeing dead people in dreams is regarded as an
omen for the living. If a crow comes near a house and caws, that house will
receive news from abroad, dog barking late at night are considered signs of bad
things to come.
Science teachers provide students the
necessary information and explanation which science teaches about these beliefs
and superstitions. Science teachers motivate students to understand, analyse
and think scientifically against such beliefs. Science teachers should gives
explanations for most of the belief which is obtained from scientific studies
and helps students to acquire knowledge against superstitious practices and
beliefs. Thus Science is a tool for fighting superstitions, and it helps to
fosters logical thinking and instilling scientific outlook in life.
Misconception about science
Science
is also riddled with misconceptions in the way it is perceived and how it
works. Some of the most common misconceptions are science is complete, there is
a single scientific method that all scientists follow, scientific ideas are
absolute and unchanging, science can only disprove ideas, job of a scientist is
to find support for his or her hypotheses, science and technology can solve all
the problems, science contradicts the existence of God, science is done by “old
white men” etc.
Misconceptions
can be described as ideas that provide an incorrect understanding of ideas,
objects or events that are not in agreement with our current understanding.
They occur in students, understanding of scientific methods as well as in their
organization of scientific knowledge. According to national research council,
students in grades 5 to 8 showed evidence of misconceptions at a surprisingly
high rate of frequency. Even some of the best students give the right answers,
but are only using memorized words or sentences. When questioned more closely,
these students reveal their failure to understand fully, the underlying
concepts. They are often able to use algorithms to solve numerical problems
without completely understanding the underlying scientific concept. Reports have
found that students in physics classes had memorized equations and problem
solving skills, but performed poorly on tests of conceptual understanding.
Besides offering students information and helpful examples, we must show them
reasoning processes that leads to algorithmic problems with a conceptual
question on the same topic.
How to help a child to overcome
Misconceptions?
The
process of replacing a misconception with the scientifically accepted concept
is called conceptual change. Certain strategies for helping students overcome
misconceptions are: using methods that de-emphasize cook book-like activities
in favour of open-ended, inquiry-oriented investigations can engage students in
discussions of scientific ideas in cooperative group work. Individuals who are
asked to predict the results of their experiments are more willing to change
their thinking than those who function as passive observers. Creating
opportunities for students to confront their own beliefs should enable them to
resolve any conflicts between their ideas and what they experience in a
laboratory activity and discussions. Teachers also need to ensure that
connections are made in a relevantly between the concepts learned in the
classroom and students’ everyday life, asking students to describe or represent
their own concepts, discussing and evaluating concepts.
