Pariksha SaathiLesson 6 of 8 · Science and its Pedagogy (Paper II)
Nature and Structure of Science: Process, Body of Knowledge, Aims and Scientific Attitude
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Science as a body of knowledge
Science is organised knowledge about the natural world built on evidence, and it has a structure. Facts are observable, verifiable statements (pure water boils at 100 °C at sea level). Concepts are general ideas that group many facts (force, cell, solution). Principles and laws state relationships that hold under stated conditions (the laws of reflection, Newton's laws of motion). Theories are broad, well-tested explanations of many observations (the cell theory, the kinetic theory of matter). A hypothesis is a tentative, testable explanation not yet verified.
Science as a process
Science is also a way of finding out. The process involves observing, asking questions, forming hypotheses, designing fair tests, collecting and interpreting data, drawing conclusions and communicating them for others to check. Scientific knowledge is therefore empirical (based on evidence), tentative (open to revision with new evidence: the Sun-centred model of Copernicus replaced the Earth-centred one, and Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006), objective and verifiable (others can repeat the test), self-correcting and cumulative. There is no single fixed scientific method; imagination and creativity matter, and science is a social enterprise in which scientists share, criticise and build on one another's work. Process skills are commonly grouped as basic (observing, classifying, measuring, communicating, inferring, predicting) and integrated (controlling variables, formulating hypotheses, interpreting data, defining operationally, experimenting).
Aims at the upper primary stage
NCF 2005 holds that good science education is true to the child, true to life and true to science. At the upper primary stage (Classes VI to VIII) children should learn the principles of science through familiar experiences, work with their hands to design simple technological units and modules (for example, a working model of a windmill to lift weights), and continue learning about the environment and health, including reproductive and sexual health, through activities and surveys. Concepts are to be arrived at mainly through activities and experiments, with group work, discussion with peers and teachers, surveys, organisation of data and display through exhibitions in school and the neighbourhood. Science here must not be a diluted version of secondary school science. The progression runs from EVS at the primary stage to science at upper primary, science as a composite discipline at the secondary stage, and separate disciplines at the higher secondary stage.
The six validity criteria
The NCF 2005 Position Paper on Teaching of Science judges a curriculum by six validities. Cognitive validity: content, process, language and pedagogy suit the child's age and cognitive reach, so atomic structure in Class VI would violate it. Content validity: the information is significant and scientifically correct, and simplification must not trivialise or distort it. Process validity: the learner engages with the methods that generate and validate scientific knowledge, which nurtures curiosity and creativity, as when children design their own test of which soil holds most water. Historical validity: learners see how scientific ideas evolved and how social factors shaped science as a social enterprise. Environmental validity: science is set in the learner's local and global environment, with issues at the interface of science, technology and society, and prepares the learner for the world of work, as in a survey of the village pond. Ethical validity: the curriculum promotes honesty, objectivity, cooperation, freedom from fear and prejudice, and concern for life and the environment, as when a child reports actual readings that differ from the expected answer.
Scientific attitude
Scientific attitude is the habit of mind a science classroom builds: curiosity, open-mindedness, objectivity, honesty in recording observations, critical thinking, suspended judgement (not concluding before there is enough evidence), belief in cause and effect, rejection of superstition, perseverance, humility and readiness to change one's view when evidence demands. Jawaharlal Nehru popularised the phrase scientific temper in The Discovery of India (1946), and the 42nd Amendment of 1976 made developing the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform a Fundamental Duty under Article 51A(h). A teacher builds it by asking 'How do you know?', letting children test claims such as a cawing crow bringing guests, welcoming questions, saying 'I do not know, let us find out', and valuing an honestly reported experiment that did not work. Attitudes belong to the affective domain and are assessed through observation, anecdotal records, checklists and rating scales rather than written tests.
Science, technology, society and history
Science seeks to understand nature, while technology applies knowledge to solve practical problems; each feeds the other, and the science-technology-society (STS) view links classroom topics to energy, health and pollution. The history of science shows it as a human, cross-cultural enterprise: C.V. Raman's discovery of the Raman effect on 28 February 1928 is marked as National Science Day, and he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930; J.C. Bose showed that plants respond to stimuli and built the crescograph; Salim Ali is called the Birdman of India; E.K. Janaki Ammal was a pioneering botanist who worked on sugarcane; and the texts of Charaka and Sushruta record ancient medicine and surgery. Such stories, including those of women scientists, counter the idea that science is only for a few.
Key facts
- Fact: pure water boils at 100 °C at sea level; concept: force; law: the laws of reflection; theory: the cell theory; hypothesis: a tentative, testable explanation.
- Scientific knowledge is empirical, tentative, objective, verifiable, self-correcting and cumulative; Pluto's reclassification in 2006 shows that it is tentative.
- Basic process skills: observing, classifying, measuring, communicating, inferring, predicting. Integrated skills: controlling variables, formulating hypotheses, interpreting data, defining operationally, experimenting.
- NCF 2005: good science education is true to the child, true to life and true to science; upper primary science must not be a diluted version of secondary science.
- Six validities: cognitive (age-appropriate), content (correct and significant), process (methods of science), historical (how ideas evolved), environmental (local and global context, STS), ethical (honesty, objectivity, cooperation, freedom from fear and prejudice).
- A child honestly reports readings that differ from the textbook answer: this reflects ethical validity and the scientific attitude of honesty.
- Scientific temper: Article 51A(h), added by the 42nd Amendment (1976); the phrase was popularised by Nehru in The Discovery of India (1946).
- Suspended judgement means not drawing a conclusion until enough evidence has been collected.
- National Science Day, 28 February, marks C.V. Raman's discovery of the Raman effect (1928); Nobel Prize in Physics 1930; J.C. Bose built the crescograph.
Quick revision
Science = body of knowledge + process; fact, concept, law, theory, hypothesis; knowledge empirical, tentative, verifiable; basic and integrated process skills; NCF 2005: true to the child, to life and to science; upper primary learns through familiar experience, hands-on design and activities, not diluted secondary science; six validities: cognitive, content, process, historical, environmental, ethical; scientific temper Art 51A(h), 42nd Amendment 1976; National Science Day 28 February.