Nature of Science and Science Education (E11)

About This Course

Scientists and philosophers have often wondered about the nature of science? What makes scientific knowledge so robust? What are the processes involved in acquiring and validating scientific knowledge? What does it mean to 'think scientifically'? Can we teach children to be curious and think scientifically?

Teachers’ understanding about the nature of science influences their teaching practices. Teachers’ understanding about the nature of science influences their teaching practices. Learning the processes involved in scientific knowledge is equally important, if not more, as learning scientific facts. Therefore it is important to shift teachers' focus from transmitting facts to engaging students in the process of scientific enquiry. This can be achieved by exposing teachers to history and philosophy of scienceThis course is meant for the teachers who may want to acquire a state of art knowledge in the field of science education.

The following four questions will be discussed in this course:.

Why teach science?

What do we want to teach when teaching science?

How do students learn science?

How to teach science?

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course teachers will be able to

Think broadly about science and science education.

Understand the guiding principles of science education.

Analyse the pedagogic practices and educational material.

Modify their teaching practices and analyze and curate pedagogic teaching-learning material (such as textbooks and digital resources) and appropriate for their own context.

Course Staff

Shamin Padalkar

Assistant Professor, Centre for Education, Innovation & Action Research

For my doctoral project I developed a pedagogy for elementary astronomy with a focus on visuospatial thinking. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at UCSB I designed and tested an intervention to improve representational competence of undergraduate students in steriochemistry. I now work on TPD for CLIx Science and also closely follow the development of the Science curriculum.

Rafikh Shaikh

Senior Research Associate, Centre for Education, Innovation & Action Research

My research interest is in the area of educational technology in general and the role of computer-mediated collaboration in education in particular. We are comparatively studying two environments, one with computer-mediated group interaction and the other with one-to-one interaction with the computer. We are trying to understand the processes involved in learning in both environments. I’m also interested in approximate number system (ANS) and its connection with formal mathematics. As a part of Science Team at CLIx, I am working on the Basic Astronomy Module. I am helping in revising the student module, collecting and analyzing the data and writing research reports.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I access the course on a smartphone? (मैं स्मार्टफोन पर कोर्स कैसे एक्सेस कर सकता हूं?)

You can access the course via TISSx app on your smartphone. You can install the app from Playstore. (आप अपने स्मार्टफोन पर TISSx ऐप के माध्यम से पाठ्यक्रम तक पहुंच सकते हैं। आप Play Store से ऐप इंस्टॉल कर सकते हैं।)

Whom do I contact for further information? (अधिक जानकारी के लिए मैं किससे संपर्क करूँ?)

Write in to rtict@clixindia.org (आप पाठ्यक्रम से संबंधित किसी भी प्रश्न के लिए rtict@clixindia.org पर लिख सकते हैं।)

What web browser should I use? (मुझे किस वेब ब्राउज़र का उपयोग करना चाहिए?)

The Open edX platform works best with current versions of Chrome, Firefox or Safari, or with Internet Explorer version 9 and above. (ओपन एडएक्स प्लेटफॉर्म क्रोम, फायरफॉक्स या सफारी के मौजूदा संस्करणों के साथ या इंटरनेट एक्सप्लोरर संस्करण 9 और इसके बाद के संस्करण के साथ सबसे अच्छा काम करता है।)
See our list of supported browsers for the most up-to-date information.(अधिक जानकारी के लिए हमारी list of supported browsers देखें। )

TISSx: RTICTEnHiE11 Nature of Science and Science Education (E11)