科学实在论与工具主义在科学领域的发展方向

科学实在论与工具主义的争论已久。科学实在论认为事物本质是真实存在,科学就是揭示这种存在;工具主义者认为所谓的科学规律和科学理论都不是客观实在的反映而是人的认识,科学在人手中只是适应环境的工具。科学实在论与工具主义各有其存在的理由,前者指明了科学研究的方向,后者则始终强调科学理论只不过是人造的概念体系,是人所进行的科学实践的结果。表面上看二者截然对立,实际上二者之间存在着相互让步的空间,二者的发展方向必将是相互渗透、结合。     

关于"科学美"之我见

科学美是一种客观存在,科学家的审美目光在于发现它、改造它、升华它,而不能像艺术美那样主要借助于虚构.科学美是感性美与理性美的交汇.它不仅体现为一种结果,也往往体现在过程之中.研究科学美既不要排斥科学美中的理性美因素,也不能陷入"泛美论"."科学美"是科学中某些方面的美,而不是说所有的科学现象、科学规律、科学行为都是审美对象.科学美突出地表现在巧趣、妙趣(部分表现为情趣),诸如图像或公式的艺术化、幽隐世界的拟像化、奇异对象的趣释化、科学行为和言语的隽智化以及某些对象的情感化.     

Questioning a tradition: A French way of excellence

The following article was written in French as a keynote speech at the IGIP Symposiumat the Biel School of Engineering (University of Applied Sciences, in Biel, Switzerland), held in March 2000. The topic of this symposium was 'Unique and Excellent'. It aimed to show that engineering education cannot really head towards unification, but will reach uniqueness and excellency if there are many different ways of educating engineers. What happens on the spot, in each technical university, in each course, is much more important for excellence than the fact that all curricula can be compared directly at an international level. Owing to the very particular way of educating engineers in France, it was considered most important to learn about this particular organization. André Béraud accepted presenting it to the audience. His contribution had a very lively echo. The text presents a short outline of the history of French engineering education and its very particular ways and means. Engineering is not taught at technical universities but at Grandes Ecoles (Grand Schools), which represent a very high level of education open only to the very best. They will form the élite of the public servants of France, much more than what is generally considered the task of an engineer. In consequence, the education is broadly based with humanities as an important element in it; it is also very scientific, with mathematics and theoretical physics as central topics. The disadvantage of such a system lies in the fact that it is most rigid, not very open to the needs of industry and of foreign students. There have been, however, some changes.     

Foreword: a century of vocationalism

Several writers have argued that educational research should be educative; in the sense of being geared directly to improving educational practice. This is proposed on a variety of grounds--from appeals to the meaning of the word 'educational', through claims about the very nature of all social inquiry, to arguments that there is a need for a practical form of educational research that is distinct from social scientific work. This article suggests that while these arguments point to important distinctions among types of research, they do not formulate those distinctions soundly; and a more effective formu lation will be attempted. Moreover, in conclusion, it will be argued that research cannot be educative, only informative.     

科学预设的合理性及其法律应用

科学预设是作为科学活动的不证自明的前提的观念。其合理性问题的认识大致经历了从逻辑经验主义到历史主义,再到自然主义的变化过程。科学预设是科学理论建构的主导因素,也是科学合理性的普遍性原则和标准建构的前提或指南,科学哲学应提供一套高层的科学预设来指引科学活动,而不能因为预设的可误、可变化而否定其合理性。科学预设不仅能从不同的角度服务于侦查讯问,也是法庭审判中常见的语言现象。     

Empirical Research into Teaching

The paper argues that 100 years of empirical research into teaching has failed to provide a usable account of best practice. This is partly because of conceptual and other logical problems that cannot in practice be resolved, as has been argued before. However, it is further argued that the real reason that no useful rules of good teaching can be established is that there are no substantive and important rules covering human interactions such as teaching. It is not that science cannot get the answers; rather it is that there are not any answers, and that is why there is not a science of teaching. Every teaching event is unique and the way to determine good practice is to be clear about what one is trying to achieve and to know one’s particular audience. This is not simply sound practical advice, but logically the only path to knowledge in this area.     

Wonder and Moral Education

Many authors have claimed a moral and educational significance for wonder. In this article Anders Schinkel assesses these claims in order to address the question whether we do indeed have reason to stimulate the sense of wonder and to provoke experiences of wonder in education with a view to its moral effects or importance. Are there moral effects of wonder — or does wonder have a moral significance — that give us a (further) reason to promote children's sense of wonder and to attempt to elicit the experience of wonder in children? And if so, will any experience of wonder do, from a moral perspective, or do only some experiences of wonder — in specific contexts, or with a specific object — have the desired effect? Schinkel argues that, although there is certainly a case to be made for wonder's moral (educational) importance, it needs to be made cautiously. Wonder coheres more easily with some emotions and attitudes than with others, but in the end its moral significance depends to a large extent on how we interpret or make sense of our wonder and what we wonder at. In moral education, therefore, the value of wonder depends on how it is framed and morally charged.     

科学教学中实验为何存在“异常现象”

科学实验在科学教学实践中扮演着至关重要的角色。在实验教学中,有时会发现实验现象与理论预期明显不同,即“异常现象”。科学实验是一种“实体完形”,构成实验的材料不可分割,但其中包含的属性未必有逻辑上的必然联系。科学知识是一种“虚体完形”,它描述的属性依靠科学思维紧密相连,具有逻辑上的直接关系。从科学实验中提取科学知识,需要把实体的众多属性分出主次,舍弃大量非本质属性。当面对具体的科学实验时,这些非本质属性已无法还原,导致人们仅仅依据某一条理论预测实验现象,只能把握“实体完形”的部分属性,发现“异常”就在所难免了。所谓的“异常现象”本来是正常的,只不过是人们的认识发生了偏差而已。     

The upward Brain drain and a myth

Abstract

A recent article on education in China succeeded in giving a fresh tweak to the arguments concerning whether aptitude or achievement testing is more likely to promote equality of educational opportunity. In ‘The Diploma Disease’ Ronald Dore expounded the view that aptitude testing is to be preferred for selection purposes on the grounds that it gives more weight to ‘innate potential’ (his term) than does achievement testing which produces results more affected by quality of schooling, an influence which is all too variable, especially in emerging countries. Although shot through with considerable ambivalence, Dore's view could still be instrumental in persuading educational and political authorities in those countries that aptitude testing will do what he says it will do ‐ ‘make for greater equality of educational opportunity and be more effective in mobilizing all available talent’. And even if these authorities have never set eyes on Dore's book, there is sufficient evidence that some of them are acting as if they had taken Dore's view on board for it to be worth re‐opening the question. It is argued here that Dore's position cannot be supported.     

美国俄勒冈州科学探究的工作单评价方法

工作单评价是目前较受推崇的科学探究评价方法.美国俄勒冈州的科学探究工作单评价有一套完善的运行程序,不仅以州制定的官方科学探究评分指南作为评价依据,还有相应保障实施的条件,给我国科学探究评价以一定的启示.     

Advice to a New Science Teacher: The Importance of Establishing a Theme in Teaching Scientific Explanations

In the Humanities, my most memorable teachers were those who did more than teach the subject matter of some discipline. They espoused an underlying theme that established a perspective or framework within which to structure the details of the subject being taught. This paper will describe a particularly useful theme that reveals the structure of certain scientific explanations relevant to a study of chemistry. Because it emphasizes the structure of certain scientific explanations found in chemistry, it usually helps a student to distinguish a sensible explanation from one that is not. Some might suggest that the Scientific Method as proposed by Roger Bacon is particularly suitable for such a theme. I disagree. The Scientific Method—no matter what model is used—is too generic. It lacks the specificity necessary to be useful in the role of a theme. This paper is intended to provide an example of a theme for an introduction to chemistry that I have found particularly useful. However, before continuing, let me put in an immediate disclaimer. The theme that I have found most useful is neither the only possible theme nor necessarily the best. However, it does demonstrate what a theme in a science course means to me. Hopefully its usefulness will be apparent to the reader.     

以形式为生命的艺术

任何语言的诗歌首先都是因其语言形式而存在的。没有独特的形式就没有诗歌这一独特的体裁。目前的汉语“诗歌”已经失去“形式”。人们将目前这种不是诗歌的东西称为“诗歌”．其原因是对外来“诗歌”的误解。外语诗歌译为汉语后,其在语言形式上如果没加入汉语的“诗籍”,它就只是不是诗,而我们却以其原是诗歌为由,将这种散性的东西称为诗歌,并反过来以此为圭臬．去进行所谓的新诗歌创作。对诗歌形式的突破．有真突破,也有假突破,当代诗歌的突破以假居多。     

Creationism as a Misconception: Socio-cognitive conflict in the teaching of evolution

This position paper argues that students' understanding and acceptance of evolution may be supported, rather than hindered, by classroom discussion of creationism. Parallels are drawn between creationism and other scientific misconceptions, both of the scientific community in the past and of students in the present. Science teachers frequently handle their students' misconceptions as they arise by offering appropriate socio-cognitive conflict, which highlights reasons to disbelieve one idea and to believe another. It is argued that this way of working, rather than outlawing discussion, is more scientific and more honest. Scientific truth does not win the day by attempting to deny its opponents a voice but by engaging them with evidence. Teachers can be confident that evolution has nothing to fear from a free and frank discussion in which claims can be rebutted with evidence. Such an approach is accessible to children of all ages and is ultimately more likely to drive out pre-scientific superstitions. It also models the scientific process more authentically and develops students' ability to think critically.     

The philosophical basis of observation in science and science education

Observation plays a fundamental role in scientific investigation. Scientific observation sometimes involves relatively simple activities requiring little preparation and unsophisticated interpretation. At other times, however, scientific observation is an extremely complex activity, indeed among the most challenging enterprises in which human beings engage. The science education field typically portrays only that segment of scientific observation at the simple end of this spectrum. In doing this, there is a risk that students will acquire a distorted image of scientific observation, and develop observational skills which are not at all adequate for the role which observation plays in science. An alternative account of observation in science is presented and its implications for science teaching are discussed.     

Technological Risk,Scientific Advice and Public 'Education': Groping for an adequate language in the case of GM foods

Knowledge is central to both education and sustainability. This article examines a current example of rapid shifts in knowledge and perceptions in education and learning about sustainability in civil society. Through the lens of the public outcry and policy crisis over genetically modified foods in the UK, it points to some major recurring difficulties with policy models of 'public education' used in cases of technological risk. These reveal entrenched policy presumptions that the general public is ignorant about scientific matters and that this ignorance can simply be addressed by better communication. It notes the challenges to these models that have been presented in particular by a group of environmental social scientists in rethinking the politics of GM food in the context of sustainability. It proposes that the term 'ignorance' is one that needs to be applied to the task of risk assessment as much as to the public, and that more inclusive styles of decision making on risk issues are not only more democratic but also more scientifically robust. With innovation occurring at an ever increasing rate, the understanding and management of technological risk will continue to become more important. The knowledge, learning and education involved will be key survival skills if we are to implement sustainability.     

“审美意识形态论”与人在文学活动中的存在

文学审美意识形态论是新中国文学理论在改革开放时代精神指引下所创生的学术成果。文学审美意识形态论所揭示的文学性质,是文学中呈现出来的与人类的生存状态结合在一起的审美意识形态价值。它的产生不仅是中国新时期对艺术的科学认识的回归,而且特别是马克思主义人本主义思想的回归,在理论基础上是有马克思学说的人学与社会学统一的学理依据的。在科学发展观“以人为本”思想指导下,在当代中国学术环境中再也不能不分青红皂白地否定马克思主义自身的人本主义思想,应该注重在“以人为本”思想指导下进一步建设文学审美意识形态论。     

‘This is My Truth,Tell Me Yours’. Deconstructive pragmatism as a philosophy for education

One way to characterise pragmatism is to see it as a philosophy that placed communication at the heart of philosophical, educational and political thinking. Whereas the shift from consciousness to communication can be seen as a major innovation in modern philosophy, it is not without problems. This article highlights some of these problems and suggests a way ‘forward’ by staging a discussion between pragmatism and deconstruction. Although there are striking similarities between pragmatism and deconstruction, it is argued that pragmatism and deconstruction cannot sit as easily together as some authors assume. The reason for this is not that pragmatism and deconstruction are incompatible philosophies but rather that deconstruction occurs at the very heart of pragmatism. This implies that pragmatism can only retain its commitment to communication in philosophy, education and politics if it acknowledges and, in a sense, embraces the occurrence of deconstruction in communication. This suggests that the future of pragmatism as a philosophy for education o lies in its deconstruction, something which is expressed in the idea of a deconstructive rather than a deconstructed pragmatism.     

Vitalism and the Darwin Debate

There are currently both scientific and public debates surrounding Darwinism. In the scientific debate, the details of evolution are in dispute, but not the central thesis of Darwin??s theory; in the public debate, Darwinism itself is questioned. I concentrate on the public debate because of its direct impact on education in the United States. Some critics of Darwin advocate the teaching of intelligent design theory along with Darwin??s theory, and others seek to eliminate even the mention of evolution from science classes altogether. Many of these critics base their objections on the claim that non-living matter cannot give rise to living matter. After considering some of the various meanings assigned to ??vitalism?? over the years, I argue that a considerable portion of Darwin deniers support a literal version of vitalism that is not scientifically respectable. Their position seems to be that since life cannot arise naturally, Darwin??s theory accomplishes nothing: If it can only account for life forms changing from one to another (even this is disputed by some) but not how life arose in the first place, what??s the point? I argue that there is every reason to believe that living and non-living matter differ only in degree, not in kind, and that all conversation about Darwinism should start with the assumption that abiogenesis is possible unless or until compelling evidence of its impossibility is presented. That is, I advocate a position that the burden of proof lies with those who claim ??Life only comes from life.?? Until that case is made, little weight should be given to their position.     

The Nature of Scientific Explanation: Examining the perceptions of the nature,quality, and “goodness” of explanation among college students,science teachers,and scientists

Issues regarding scientific explanation have been of interest to philosophers from Pre-Socratic times. The notion of scientific explanation is of interest not only to philosophers, but also to science educators as is clearly evident in the emphasis given to K-12 students' construction of explanations in current national science education reform efforts. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of research on conceptualizing explanation in science education. Using a philosophically guided framework—the Nature of Scientific Explanation (NOSE) framework—the study aims to elucidate and compare college freshmen science students', secondary science teachers', and practicing scientists' scientific explanations and their views of scientific explanations. In particular, this study aims to: (1) analyze students', teachers', and scientists' scientific explanations; (2) explore the nuances about how freshman students, science teachers, and practicing scientists construct explanations; and (3) elucidate the criteria that participants use in analyzing scientific explanations. In two separate interviews, participants first constructed explanations of everyday scientific phenomena and then provided feedback on the explanations constructed by other participants. Major findings showed that, when analyzed using NOSE framework, participant scientists did significantly “better” than teachers and students. Our analysis revealed that scientists, teachers, and students share a lot of similarities in how they construct their explanations in science. However, they differ in some key dimensions. The present study highlighted the need articulated by many researchers in science education to understand additional aspects specific to scientific explanation. The present findings provide an initial analytical framework for examining students' and science teachers' scientific explanations.