Title

The Integration of Historical Epistemology of Science and Technology into the Modern Teaching Approaches in Pre-Service Teacher Education

Abstract

The development of technology in recent years has a significant impact on all areas of life and consequently requires changes in the educational process, which are a great challenge for educators. Changes in the education process must be well thought out and based on proven concepts and heuristics. The goals of science and technology education include understanding natural phenomena at several levels. Snir et al. (1993) involve learning about phenomena at three levels: concrete (facts and generalizations), conceptual (concepts and theories), and metaconceptual (epistemology). Using models in teaching science and technology can help to develop conceptual understanding, and according to Delgado (2014), they may build metaconceptual understanding as well. We upgraded known heuristics didactically and place it in the modern concept of teaching. Historical epistemology of science and technology is one of the possible approaches to understanding the history of the foundations of science. Historical models underlying the laws of physics are excellent teaching aids, where students learn concepts through detailed technical analysis of the functioning of mechanisms. Through exploring historical models, students build their knowledge on a higher level through inquired-based learning. The next step of the learning process brings the epistemological added value including technology for turning historical models into interactive 3D models, that visualize abstract representations. However there have been some discussions and concerns about 3D modelling of physical phenomena, we have shown some good examples of improving the visual representation of abstract phenomena, which is crucial for the metaconceptual understanding of pre-service science and technology teachers. The task of educators is to develop the epistemic repertoire of students/pre-service science and technology teachers to create cognitive artefacts in order to understand the problems and challenges that their pupils could face. In my talk, the integration of historical epistemology of science and technology into modern teaching approaches in pre-service teacher education will be discussed. In the first, theoretical part, I will present how models can support learning at the conceptual and metaconceptual levels and technology can transform teaching and learning by turning models into interesting 3D models that learners can investigate. In the second part of my talk, I will present a case study of including 3D modelling of historical models in the pre-service technology teacher education.

References

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Contact

• mateja.plojvirtic@um.si