Scientific Knowledge as a Culture: A Paradigm of Knowledge Representation for the Meaningful Teaching and Learning of Science

This chapter reviews a cultural approach to the science/physics curriculum. Scientific knowledge is considered as a culture related to a discipline, which we term as discipline–culture (DC); accordingly, disciplinary content knowledge is upgraded to cultural content knowledge (CCK). Physics knowledge comprises fundamental theories that are hierarchically structured in a triadic pattern: nucleus–body–periphery to represent the discipline–culture. This structure effectively displays the meaning of each theory within the discipline and their relationship to each other. The meaning of fundamental theories (nucleus) is emphasized by their contrast to alternative theories (periphery). From an epistemological perspective, the cultural approach suggests that different approaches—rationalist and empiricist—are complementary threads interwoven into an integrated method of science. The DC-oriented curriculum incorporates content of history and philosophy of science and clarifies their role in science education. A metaknowledge (big picture) of science is established, which may be attractive to a wide variety of learners having different interests and cognitive preferences. Three ways to implement a DC-oriented approach were empirically explored and are briefly described: a new curriculum, conceptual excursus, and summative lecture. Besides the future engineers are other less numerous pupils, destined in their turn to become teachers, and so they must go to the very root of the matter; a profound and exact knowledge of first principles is above all indispensable for them.