CURRICULA, HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND SCIENCE EDUCATION

Generally speaking, current school science curricula have been constructed for the purpose of preparing students for university and college scientific degrees. Such education does not meet the needs of the majority of students who will not pursue tertiary studies in science or even science-related fields. These students require knowledge of the main ideas and methodologies of science. It seems that the didactics of scientific disciplines across Europe have failed to solve the “crisis” between scientific education and European social and economic development. This is generally recognized in the reports published concerning science education in Europe (Rocard report, etc.) which propose new strategies to be implemented in teaching through the identification and promotion of Inquiry based Science Education (IBSE) and other strategies. It is timely that there is a multi disciplinary dialogue exchanging new ideas and proposals between educational researchers, historians, philosophers and learning theorists.