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Can Didactic Transposition and Popularization Explain Transformations of Genetic Knowledge from Research to Classroom?

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Abstract

We will attempt a synthesis from various research perspectives that have analyzed the alterations that knowledge inevitably goes through while percolating into classroom activities. We will try to identify some of their causes and will illustrate them with examples in genetics. First, we will discuss some research on knowledge transformation when genetics knowledge is popularized (Staerklé and Clémence 2002), to show how knowledge is transformed in specific predictable manners as it moves from experts to general public. Then, we will draw from a large body of (French) research in didactic transposition (Chevallard 1991) in order to highlight what knowledge characteristically thrives or is lost as it percolates into school practice and learner’s knowledge. We will then draw from Huberman’s (Science Communication, 4(4), 478–510, 1983) analysis of knowledge use in schools the specificities of knowledge that teachers effectively use. All three perspectives reveal that cognitive and social environment are crucial determinants of what knowledge will be found in schools. An ecological metaphor explains how different cognitive environments from research into education favor knowledge adapted to specificities of this ecosystem. This transposition of knowledge is therefore not decay but inescapable and necessary. Ignoring this transposition has considerably reduced the effectiveness of many educational reforms. We will combine these three to propose an evolutionary perspective that could inform ways of expressing research into educational recommendations fed into the system to optimize the didactic transposition process.

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Notes

  1. In English, the term didactic has a quite different meaning and is not very positive in educational research, but it is the term used by Chevallard. Consequently, this article uses the abbreviation DT wherever possible.

  2. Models are abstract, simplified, representations of a system of phenomena that make its central features explicit and visible and can be used to generate explanations and predictions (Harrison and Treagust 2000)

  3. The word “noosphere” was first coined by the Russian chemist Vernadsky, then generalized by Teilhard de Chardin, from the Greek words νοῦς (mind) and σφαῖρα (sphere), and means the “sphere of the human mind,” by analogy with “atmosphere” and “biosphere.” It was later on applied to the didactics of mathematics by Chevallard to refer to education authorities who are under the influence of policymakers, such as politicians, parents, media...

  4. Chevallard uses the french word apprêter which also refers to the way a cook prepares a meal

  5. In order to stay close to Chevallard’s wording, we use in this article the original terms: exercisability, assessability, learnability, teachability.

  6. According to a metaphor used in ATD “visiting monuments,” each of these knowledge items is approached as a monument that stands on its own, that students are expected to admire and enjoy, even when they know next to nothing about its “raisons d’être,” now or in the past (Chevallard 2012).

  7. In the evolutionary biology sense: “evolutionary geneticists use fitness to predict changes in the genetic composition of populations through time” (Orr 2009).

  8. Tremplin means springboard in French

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Geneva, IUFE and TECFA, 40, boulevard du Pont-d’Arve, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    François Lombard

  2. University of Geneva, IUFE, 40, boulevard du Pont-d’Arve, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    Laura Weiss

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  1. François Lombard
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Correspondence to François Lombard.

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Lombard, F., Weiss, L. Can Didactic Transposition and Popularization Explain Transformations of Genetic Knowledge from Research to Classroom?. Sci & Educ 27, 523–545 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-018-9977-8

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