What should be the goal of those who attempting to teach science at the
6-12 level? Is science a fairly clear cut body of knowledge....with bullets
that fall appropriately?
I recently exchanged with a collegue concerning the struggles I have in
teaching science along with the expected content. It seems to me that
students who arrive at conclusions through experiences, through the testing
and refinement of models or through careful logic learn "science" better.
It was suggested that I should take some basic 100 level science courses
again (I had them loing ago) to remind me of what science is really about.
Is there a clear concensus on this? What message should we be getting about
physics (or any science) in the middle or high school classroom?