Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Minnesota Case Study Collection: New Historical Inquiry Case Studies for Nature of Science Education

  • Published:
Science & Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten.

B. F. Skinner.

Abstract

The new Minnesota Case Study Collection is profiled, along with other examples. They complement the work of the HIPST Project in illustrating the aims of: (1) historically informed inquiry learning that fosters explicit NOS reflection, and (2) engagement with faithfully rendered samples of Whole Science.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allchin, D. (1993). Of squid hearts and William Harvey. The Science Teacher, 60(7), 26–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allchin, D. (1995). How not to teach history in science. In F. Finley, D. Allchin, D. Rhees, & S. Fifield (Eds.), Proceedings, third international history, philosophy and science teaching conference (Vol. 1, pp. 13–22). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. (Reprinted in The Pantaneto Forum, 7 (July, 2002)). http://www.pantaneto.co.uk/issue7/allchin.htm. Accessed 3 January 2011. See also http://ships.umn.edu/updates/hist-not.htm. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • Allchin, D. (1996). A puzzle: The science of the diluvialists. SHiPS Teachers’ Network News, 6(2), 2–3. (Reprinted http://www1.umn.edu/ships/religion/diluvial.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011).

  • Allchin, D. (1997). Rekindling phlogiston: From classroom case study to interdisciplinary relationships. Science & Education, 6, 473–509. See also http://ships.umn.edu/modules/chem/rekindling.pdf. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • Allchin, D. (2001a). Of rice and men. Fourth international seminar for history of science and science education (CD). Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba.

  • Allchin, D. (2001b). Error types. Perspectives on Science, 9, 38–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allchin, D. (2003). Scientific myth-conceptions. Science Education, 87, 329–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allchin, D. (2004). Pseudohistory and pseudoscience. Science & Education, 13, 179–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allchin, D. (2006). Why respect for history—And historical error—Matters. Science & Eduction, 15, 91–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allchin, D. (2009a). Debating Galileo’s dialogue: The 1633 trial. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://galileotrial.net. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • Allchin, D. (2009b). Debating Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring: The President’s Committee on Pesticides, 1963. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://pesticides1963.net. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • Allchin, D. (2011). Evaluating knowledge of the nature of (whole) science. Science Education, 95, 918–942.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science, Project 2061. (2001–2004). Atlas of scientific literacy (Vols. 1–2). Washington DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science, Project 2061. (2009). Benchmarks for scientific literacy (revised). Washington DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonwell, C., & Eison, J. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. AEHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No.1. Washington, DC: Jossey-Bass.

  • Boring, E. G. (1954). The nature and history of experimental control. American Journal of Psychology, 67, 573–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brock, W. H. (1992). History of chemistry. New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, K. (2007). Picture perfect? Making sense of the vast diversity of life on Earth. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/lincei.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Cliff, W. H., & Nesbitt, L. M. (2005). An open and shut case? Contrasting approaches to case study design. Journal of College Science Teaching, 34(4), 14–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clough, M. F. (2006). Learners’ responses to the demands of conceptual change: Considerations for effective nature of science instruction. Science & Education, 15, 463–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clough, M. P. (2007). Teaching the nature of science to secondary and post-secondary students: questions rather than tenets. The Pantaneto Forum, 25(January). http://www.pantaneto.co.uk/issue25/clough.htm. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • Clough, M. P. (2010). The story behind the science: Bringing science and scientists to life in post-secondary science education. Science & Education. doi: 10.1007/s11191-010-9310-7.

  • Clough, M. P., & Olson, J. K. (2008). Teaching and assessing the nature of science: An introduction. Science & Education, 17, 143–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conant, J. B. (1947). On understanding science. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conant, J. B. (Ed.). (1957). Harvard case histories in experimental science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craven, J. A. (2002). Assessing explicit and tacit conceptions of the nature of science among preservice elementary teachers. International Journal of Science Education, 24, 785–802.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, C. M., & Helms, J. V. (1998). Sociology of science as a means to a more authentic, inclusive science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 483–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimopoulos, K., & Koulaidis, V. (2003). Science and technology education for citizenship: The potential role of the press. Science Education, 87, 241–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolphin, G. (2009). Evolution of the theory of the earth: A contextualized approach for teaching the history of the theory of plate tectonics to ninth grade students. Science & Education, 18, 425–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, E., Driscoll, M., Siems, D., & Swanson, B. K. (2009). Darwin, the Copley Medal and the rise of naturalism. New York, NY: Pearson/Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, M. (2008). Grasp of practice’as a reasoning resource for inquiry and nature of science understanding. Science & Education, 17, 147–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, A. (2009). But what does it look like? Exploring the use of the history of science in one high school’s biology classoom. In 9th International history, philosophy and science teaching conference. Notre Dame, Indiana.

  • Friedman, A. (2010). Alfred Russel Wallace & the origin of new species. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/wallace.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Gabel, K. (2005). The earliest microscopes. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/m-scope.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Gallagher, A. (2005). Freedom from decision: The psychology of B.F. Skinner. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/skinner.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Gangnon, D. (2006). The king of colors: The chemistry of indigo and other dyes. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/chem/indigo.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Gros, P. P. (2011). Carleton Gadjusek & Kuru. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/gajdusek.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Hagen, J. B., Allchin, D., & Singer, F. (1996). Doing biology. Glenview, IL: Harper Collins. http://doingbiology.net. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • Herreid, C. F. (2005). The interrupted case method. Journal of College Science Teaching, 35(2), 4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • HIPST [History and Philosophy in Science Teaching Consortium]. (2008a). Theoretical basis of the HIPST Project. http://hipst.eled.auth.gr/hipst_htm/theory_complete.htm. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • HIPST [History and Philosophy in Science Teaching Consortium]. (2008b). Quality standards for HIPST. http://hipst.eled.auth.gr/hipst_htm/quality_standards_for_hipst.htm. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • HIPST [History and Philosophy in Science Teaching Consortium]. (2010). HIPST developed cases. http://hipstwiki.wetpaint.com/page/hipst+developed+cases.

  • HIPST Advisory Board. (2010). HIPST advisory board final report. Germany: Kaiserslautern.

  • Hodson, D. (2008). Towards scientific literacy: A teacher’s guide to the history, philosophy and sociology of science. Rotterdam/Taipei: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horibe, S. (2010). Robert Hooke, Hooke’s law & the watch spring. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/phys/hooke.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Höttecke, D., & Celestino Silva, C. (2010). Why implementing history and philosophy of science in school science education is a challenge. Science & Education. doi:10.1007/s11191-010-9285-4.

  • Howe, E. M. (2009). Henry David Thoreau, forest succession and the nature of science. American Biology Teacher, 71, 397–404. Teacher resources at http://www1.assumption.edu/users/emhowe/Thoreau.html. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • Howe, E. M. (2010). Teaching with the history of science: Understanding sickle-cell anemia and the nature of science. http://www1.assumption.edu/users/emhowe/Sickle Case/start.htm. Accessed 3 January 2011.

  • Irwin, A. R. (2000). Historical case studies: Teaching the nature of science in context. Science Education, 84(1), 5–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jayakumar, S. (2006). Splendor of the spectrum: Bunsen, Kirchoff & the origin of spectroscopy. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/chem/spectro.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Johnson, S. (2008). The invention of air. New York: Riverhead Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, S., & Stewart, J. (1990). Using philosophy of science in curriculum development: an example from high school genetics. International Journal of Science Education, 12, 297–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J., Carlsen, W., & Cunningham, C. (1993). Science education in sociocultural context. Science Education, 77, 207–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klassen, S. (2006). The application of historical narrative in science learning: The Atlantic Cable story. Science & Education, 16, 335–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuykendall, S. (2005). Maize: Indigenous agriculture and modern genetics. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/maize.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Latour, B. (1987). Science in action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, N. G., Abd-El-Khalick, F., Bell, R. L., & Schwartz, R. (2002). Views of nature science questionnaire: Toward valid and meaningful assessment of learner’s conceptions of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 497–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, N. G., Wade, P., & Bell, R. L. (1998). Assessing understanding of the nature of science. Science & Education, 7, 595–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leland, T. (2007). Interpreting Native American herbal remedies. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/native-herb.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Lundberg, M. A., Levin, B. B., & Harrington, H. L. (1999). Who learns what from cases and how?. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Ehrlaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Major, C. H., & Palmer, B. (2001). Assessing the effectiveness of problem-based learning in higher education: Lessons from the literature. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 5(1). http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/mop4spr01.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Matthews, M. 2009. Science and worldviews in the classroom: Joseph Priestley and photosynthesis. Science & Education, 18, 929–960. (Reprinted in M. Matthews (Ed.), Science, Worldviews and Education. Dordrecht: Springer).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R. (2004). Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? The case for guided methods of instruction. American Psychologist, 59, 14–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McComas, W. C. (2008). Seeking historical examples to illustrate key aspects of the nature of science. Science & Education, 17, 1249–1263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metz, D., Klassen, S., Mcmillan, N., Clough, M., & Olson, J. (2007). Building a foundation for the use of historical narratives. Science & Education, 16, 313–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michael, J. (2006). Where’s the evidence that active learning works? Advances in Physiology Education, 30, 159–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minstrell, J., & Kraus, P. (2005). Guided inquiry in the science classroom. In M. Suzanne Donovan & John. D. Bransford (Eds.), How students learn: History, mathematics, and science in the classroom (pp. 475–513). Washington, DC: National Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, K. (2010). Debating glacial theory, 1800–1870. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://glacialtheory.net. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Moran, E. (2009). Richard lower and the ‘life force’ of the body. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/lower.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Nash, L. K. (1957). Plants and the atmosphere. In J. B. Conant & L. K. Nash (Eds.), Harvard case histories in experimental science (2nd ed., pp. 323–426). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council Committee on Undergraduate Education. (1997). Science teaching reconsidered: A handbook. Washington DC: National Academis Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novak, L. (2008). Determining atomic weights: Amodeo Avogadro & his weight-volume hypothesis. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/chem/avogadro.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • OECD. (2009). Pisa 2009 assessment framework. Paris: OECD. http://www.oecd.org/document/44/0,3343,en_2649_35845621_44455276_1_1_1_1,00.html. Accessed 6 October 2010.

  • Osborne, J., Collins, S., Ratcliffe, M., Millar, R., & Duschl, R. (2003). What 'ideas-about-science' should be taught in school science? A Delphi study of the expert community. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40, 692–720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Remillard-Hagen, E. (2010). Lady Mary Wortley Montagu & smallpox variolation in 18th-Century England. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/smallpox.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Rudge, D.W. (2010). Whither the VNOS? 8th International Conference for the History of Science in Science Education, Maresias, Brazil.

  • Rutherford, J. F., & Ahlgren, A. (1990). Science for all Americans. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scharmann, L. C., Smith, M. U., James, M. C., & Jensen, M. (2005). Explicit reflective nature of science instruction: Evolution, intelligent design, and umbrellaology. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 16, 27–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, R. S., & Crawford, B. A. (2004). Authentic scientific inquiry as context for teaching nature of science. In L. B. Flick & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Scientific inquiry and nature of science (pp. 331–355). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, R. S., Lederman, N. G., & Crawford, B. A. (2004). Views of nature of science in an authentic context:an explicit approach to bridging the gap between nature of science and scientific inquiry. Science Education, 88, 610–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seker, H., & Welsh, L. C. (2005). The comparison of explicit and implicit ways of using history of science for students understanding of the nature of science. Eighth International History, Philosophy, Sociology & Science Teaching Conference, Leeds, UK.

  • Solomon, J., Duveen, J., Scot, L., & McCarthy, S. (1992). Teaching about the nature of science through history: Action research in the classroom. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29, 409–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, M. (2007). ‘The soul made flesh’: An introduction to the nervous system. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/biol/willis.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Stinner, A., McMillan, B. A., Metz, D., Jilek, J. M., & Klassen, S. (2003). The renewal of case studies in education. Science & Education, 12, 617–643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walvig, S. (2010). Contested currents: The race to electrify America. Minneapolis, MN: SHiPS Resource Center. http://www1.umn.tc.edu/ships/modules/phys/currents/pages/intro.htm. Accessed 25 April 2011.

  • Wellington, J. (1991). Newspaper science, school science: Friends or enemies? International Journal of Science Education, 13, 363–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, S. L., & Hodson, D. (2009a). From the horse’s mouth: What scientists say about scientific investigation and scientific knowledge. Science Education, 93, 109–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, S. L., & Hodson, D. (2009b). ‘More from the horse’s mouth: What scientists say about science as a social practice. International Journal of Science Education. doi:10.1080/09500690903104465.

  • Wong, S. L., Hodson, D., Kwan, J., & Yung, B. H. Y. (2008). Turning crisis into opportunity: Enhancing student-teachers’ understanding of nature of science and scientific inquiry through a case study of the scientific research in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. International Journal of Science Education, 30, 1417–1439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SHiPS Resource Center, Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science, and Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Douglas Allchin

Authors
  1. Douglas Allchin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Douglas Allchin.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Allchin, D. The Minnesota Case Study Collection: New Historical Inquiry Case Studies for Nature of Science Education. Sci & Educ 21, 1263–1281 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-011-9368-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-011-9368-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation