Fundamentals of Scientific Knowledge and Pedagogical Practice

The Purpose of Scientific Activity

• Describe: What happens, how it works. Increases experiential knowledge (descriptive).
• Explain: Why is it? Why does it happen? Invents concepts, theories, and models, increasingly global, to explain what we describe.
• Predict: What will happen if...? Use and test the explanations to enhance our experiential knowledge.

The Nature of Scientific Knowledge

Scientific knowledge cannot be presented as a set of concepts, theories, and models already finalized. This set is the answer to problems and questions, and it is based on and confirmed by data, evidence, and prior knowledge. Scientific knowledge is not valid if it is not based on evidence.

Definition of Competence

Competence: The ability to implement, in an integrated manner, knowledge, skills, and attitudes developed through learning within specific situations and contexts.

Common Problems in Science Education

• Centered on Rote Repetition: Gives more importance to the assimilation of knowledge without true understanding.
• Surface Learning and Mechanical Operators: Theories and teachers preach for students to absorb uncritically. Focus on mechanical exercises. They try to make us believe things because a theory says so, without explaining their origin. Knowledge is not internalized; it is passed superficially.
• Science Abstracted from Reality and Everyday Life: Deals with abstract things rather than important things in everyday life. Abstract scientific knowledge, detached from everyday knowledge, disconnected from everyday problems, and therefore not internalized.
• Transmission Errors.
• Worry about Passing, Not Learning: We teach knowledge that is split and then vomited on tests. Limits itself to the contents of the book and exam questions in a repetitive manner.

Alternative Conceptions

Alternative conceptions serve to explain the world "in a certain way" and are "functional." Their origin can be spontaneous, social, and/or school-based.

The Process of Scientific Inquiry

Inquiry involves the following steps:

1. Facing "scientific" questions.
2. Formulating explanations (hypotheses, models, etc.).
3. Seeking proof or evidence.
4. Documenting the relationship between evidence and proposed explanations (knowledge or previous experience).
5. Stating and arguing the explanation.
6. Considering alternative explanations.

Factors Influencing Science Teaching and Learning

Key factors include:

• Mastery of the content to be taught.
• Positive or negative models provided by their own teachers.
• Attitude towards science and towards learning.
• Beliefs about how people learn and how science should be taught.
• Beliefs about what science is and what is part of the compulsory curriculum.

Geographical Measurement: Azimuth and Elevation

Definitions

• Azimuth: The angle that determines the horizontal direction. (0° is North, by convention).
• Elevation Angle: The angle relative to the ground. (0° is horizontal, by convention).

Method A: Using a Gnomon (Stick and Shadow)

1. Draw a horizontal meridian line (N-S) on the ground.
2. Place a stick upright through the drawn line.
3. Draw the direction of the stick's shadow on the ground and prolong it.
4. Measure the angle (clockwise) from the North ray to the prolongation of the shadow.

Method E: Finding North

• Using a compass.
• Determining the direction of the prolongation of the shortest shadow of the day.
• Using a clock hand (Sun method).
• Finding the North Star at night.