Abstract
Scientific literacy is one of the primary purposes of science education which briefly focuses on using and interpreting scientific explanations, understanding science within its culture. However, science curricula emphasize science with its cognitive aspects and underestimate affective and aesthetic aspects of science. Science education needs to cover beauty of science for students to cross borders between their own culture and culture of science and to achieve the aim of scientific literacy. Relating aesthetic aspects of science with content of science and paving the way for aesthetic experiences through artworks may enrich science education. The purposes of this study are to discuss the need of integrating aesthetic aspects of science in science instruction and to propose examples and pedagogical suggestions to promote aesthetic experiences into the science education. Artworks are selected to present socio-cultural aspects of science to demonstrate the culture of science, their stories are explained, and pedagogical suggestions are proposed. Advantages and difficulties of using artworks in science instruction are discussed as a result of the study.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ADSI (Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane) (2009). Estratto dal libro Nicolò Barabino: Maestro dei maestri. Recieved from http://www.adsi.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Nicol%C3%B2-Barabino_Aprile-2009-Genova.pdf.
Aikenhead, G. S. (1996). Science education: Border crossing into the subculture of science. Studies in Science Education, 27(1), 1–52.
Aikenhead, G. (2003). Review of research on humanistic perspectives in science curricula. Paper presented at the 2nd ESERA Conference. Noordwijkehoot.
Aikenhead, G., Orpwood, G., & Fensham, P. (2011). Scientific literacy for a knowledge society. In C. Linder, L. Ostman, D. Roberts, P. O. Wickman, G. Erickson, & A. MacKinnon (Eds.), Exploring the landscape of scientific literacy (pp. 28–44). New York: Routledge.
APS Physics (2008). This month in physics history, December 1706: Birth of Émilie du Châtelet. APS News The American Physical Society, 17 (11). Retrieved from http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/.
Bradbury, L., Frye, B., & Gross, L. (2013). The capture: Kidnapping students’ interests using the Guardians of Ga’Hoole. Science Activities: Classroom Projects and Curriculum Ideas, 50(4), 134–145.
Brown, M. W. (2009). The teacher-tool relationship: Theorizing the design and use of curriculum materials. In J. T. Remillard, B. A. Herbel-Eisenmann, & G. M. Lloyd (Eds.), Mathematics teachers at work: connecting curriculum materials and classroom instruction (pp. 17–36). New York: Routledge.
Campbell, P. (2004). Seeing and seeing: Visual perception in art and science. Physics Education, 39(6), 473–479.
Cawthon, S., Dawson, K., & Ihorn, S. (2011). Activating student engagement through drama-based instruction. Journal for Learning through the Arts, 7(1), 1–28.
Chan, V. (2011). Teaching oral communication in undergraduate science: Are we doing enough and doing it right? Journal of Learning Design, 4(3), 71–79.
Cross, C. (2014). Connections between inquiry and art, incorporating art into an inquiry based science curriculum. (Doctoral Dissertation). Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University.
Davis, J. H. (1999). Nowhere, somewhere, everywhere: The arts in education. Arts Education Policy Review, 100(5), 23–28.
Davey, N. (2002). Baumgarten Alexander (Gottlieb). In D. E. Cooper (Ed.) Blackwell companions to philosophy. A companion to aesthetics (pp. 162–163). Oxford: Blackwells Publishers Ltd.
Davis, J. H. (2008). Why our schools need the arts. New York: Teachers College Press.
DeBoer, G. E. (2000). Scientific literacy: Another look at its historical and contemporary meanings and its relationship to science education reform. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37(6), 582–601.
Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. New York: Perigee.
Donnelly, J. F. (2004). Humanizing science education. Science Education, 88(5), 762–784.
Efland, A. D. (2002). Art and cognition: Integrating the visual arts in the curriculum. New York: Teachers College.
Eisner, E. (2005). Back to whole. Educational Leadership, 63(1), 14–18.
Flannery, M. C. (1991). Science and aesthetics: A partnership for science education. Science Education, 75(5), 577–593.
Flannery, M. (1992). Using science’s aesthetic dimension in teaching science. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 26(1), 1–15.
Galilei, G., Crew, H., De, S. A., & Favaro, A. (1914). Dialogues concerning two new sciences. New York: Macmillan.
Galili, I. (2013). On the power of fine arts pictorial imagery in science education. Science & Education, 22(8), 1911–1938.
Galili, I., & Zinn, B. (2007). Physics and art—a cultural symbiosis in physics education. Science & Education, 16(3), 3–5.
Gilbert, P., & Haeberli, W. (2008). Physics in the arts. Burlington: Elsevier Academic Press.
Girod, M., & Wong, D. (2002). An aesthetic (Deweyan) perspective on science learning: Case studies of three fourth graders. Elementary School Journal, 102(3), 199–224.
Girod, M., Rau, C., & Schepige, A. (2003). Appreciating the beauty of science ideas: Teaching for aesthetic understanding. Science Education, 87(4), 574–587.
Girod, M., Twyman, T., & Wojcikiewicz, S. (2010). Teaching and learning science for transformative, aesthetic experience. Journal of Science Teacher Education: The Official Journal of the Association for Science Teacher Education, 21(7), 801–824.
Guédron, M. (2009). L’imaginaire des fluides au xviiie siècle. In Eds. Publications de la Sorbonne, Sociétés & Représentations: Le médecin prescripteur d’images, Retrieved from http://www.cairn.info/revue-societes-et-representations-2009-2-page-173.htm Accessed 13.5.2015.
Hadzigeorgiou, Y. (2005). On humanistic science education. (ED506504).
Hamblen, K. A. (1997). Theories and research that support art instruction for instrumental outcomes. Arts Education Policy Review, 98(3), 27–33.
Henson, K. T. (2015). Designing and organizing currciula (CH 5). In curriculum planning: integrating multiculturalism, constructivism, and education reform (5th ed.). USA: Waveland Press, Inc..
Herklots, L. (2004). Using visual arts in A-level physics. Physics Education, 39(6), 480–483.
Jackson, P. W. (1998). John Dewey and the lessons of art. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Krajcik, J. S., & Sutherland, L. M. (2010). Supporting students in developing literacy in science. Science, 328, 456–459.
Leibowitz, J. R. (2008). Hidden harmony: The connected worlds of physics and art. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Lemke, J. L. (2001). Articulating communities: Sociocultural perspectives on science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(3), 296–316.
Lijnse, P. L., Kortland, K., Eijkelhof, H. M. C., Genderen, D. V., & Hooymayers, H. P. (1990). A thematic physics curriculum: A balance between contradictory curriculum forces. Science Education, 74(1), 95–103.
Mair, M. (2012). To know or to believe. Mairimages.ca Blog. Retrieved from http://mairimages.wordpress.com/tag/galileo-galilei/ Accessed 20.07.2012.
Marshall, J. (2005). Connecting art, learning, and creativity: A case for curriculum integration. Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research in Art Education, 46(3), 227–241.
Mueller, M.P. (2006). Add the arts and mix! Using a sciencesthetics approach to expand and enhance students’ exploration and inquiry skills in science education. Paper presented at 2006 4th International Conference on Imagination and Education, Imaginative Education Research Group, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Museo Galileo (2006). Law of free-falling bodies. Retrieved from http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/museum/esim.asp?c=500065 Accessed 10.02.2010.
Noblit, G. W., Corbett, H. D., Wilson, B. L., & McKinney, M. B. (2008). Sustaining change: The difference the art makes in schools. In Creating and sustaining arts-based school reform: the A+ schools program. New York: Routledge.
NRC (2012). A framework for k-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K-12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
OECD. (2013). Pisa 2015 draft science framework. Paris: OECD.
Ornstein, A. C., & Hunkins, F. P. (2009). Curriculum: Foundations, principles, and issues. England: Pearson Education Limited.
Östman, L., & Almqvist, J. (2011). What do values and norms have to do with scientific literacy? In C. Linder, L. Östman, D. A. Roberts, P.-O. Wickman, G. Erickson, & A. MacKinnon (Eds.), Exploring the landscape of scientific literacy (pp. 160–175). New York: Routledge.
Pancaldi, G. (2005). Volta: Science and culture in the age of enlightenment. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Porterfield, J. (2005). Voltaire: Champion of the French enlightenment. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.
Pugh, K. J., & Girod, M. (2007). Science, art, and experience: Constructing a science pedagogy from Dewey’s aesthetics. Journal of Science Teacher Education: The Official Journal of the Association for Science Teacher Education, 18(1), 9–27.
Reeves, E. A. (1997). Painting the heavens: Art and science in the age of Galileo. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Rivard, L. P., & Straw, S. P. (2000). The effect of talk and writing on learning science: An exploratory study. Science Education, 84, 566–593.
Roberts, D. A. (2011). Competing visions of scientific literacy. The influence of a science curriculum policy image. In C. Linder, L. Östman, D. A. Roberts, P.-O. Wickman, G. Erickson, & A. MacKinnon (Eds.), Exploring the landscape of scientific literacy (pp. 11–27). New York: Routledge.
Sadler, T. D., & Zeidler, D. L. (2009). Scientific literacy, PISA, and socioscientific discourse: Assessment for progressive aims of science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(8), 909–921.
Sans (1772). Guérison de la paralysie par l’electricité: Ou cette expérience physique employée avec succès dans le traitement de cette maladie regardée jusques à présent comme incurable. Paris: Chez Cailleau.
Seker, H. (2012). The instructional model for using history of science. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 12(2), 1141–1158.
Shlain, L. (1991). Art & physics: Parallel visions in space, time, and light. New York: Morrow.
Soykan, O. N. (2015). Estetik ve sanat felsefesi. İstanbul: Pinhan Yayınları.
Tez, Z. (2008). Fiziğin Kültürel Tarihi. İstanbul: Doruk Kitapçılık.
Türkoguz, S., & Yayla, Z. (2010). Görsel sanatlar etkinlikleri aracılığıyla fen öğretiminin öğrencilerin başarılarına ve tutumlarına etkileri. Batı Anadolu Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi (BAED), 1(2), 99–111.
Vanzant, S. (2008). The aesthetic experience: An interdisciplinary approach to art. Conference Proceedings of Masters in Teaching Program 2006-2008 Teaching the child in front of you in a changing world. The Evergreen State College Olympia, Washington.
Wang, H. A., & Marsh, D. D. (2002). Science instruction with a humanistic twist: Teachers’ perception and practice in using the history of science in their classrooms. Science & Education, 11(2), 169–189.
Wickman, P. O. (2006). Aesthetic experience in science education: Learning and meaning-making as situated talk and action. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Güney, B.G., Şeker, H. Discovering Socio-cultural Aspects of Science Through Artworks. Sci & Educ 26, 867–887 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-017-9924-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-017-9924-0