The History and Philosophy of Science in Physics Teaching: A Research Synthesis of Didactic Interventions

• Published in: Science & education Vol. 21; no. 6; pp. 771 - 796
• Main Authors: Teixeira, Elder Sales, Greca, Ileana Maria, Freire, Olival
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-06-2012; Springer
• Subjects: Attitude Change; Education; History; Instructional Effectiveness; Intervention; Metacognition; Persuasive Discourse; Philosophy; Philosophy of Science; Physics; Schools; Science Education; Science History; Science Instruction; Scientific Attitudes; Scientific Principles; Student Attitudes; Students; Teaching; Physic Teaching; Conceptual Change; Teaching Strategy; Historical Text; Science Teaching
• ISSN: 0926-7220; 1573-1901
• DOI: 10.1007/s11191-009-9217-3

This work is a systematic review of studies that investigate teaching experiences applying History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) in physics classrooms, with the aim of obtaining critical and reliable information on this subject. After a careful process of selection and exclusion of studies compiled from a variety of databases, an in-depth review (general description, analysis of quality and summary of the results) of those considered to be of high quality was undertaken. The results indicate positive effects in the didactic use of HPS in relation to the learning of physics concepts, although there was no consensus regarding this. A stronger divergence was found regarding the occurrence of change in students’ attitudes towards science. However, HPS may in fact foster a more mature vision in students in respect of their understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS). Moreover, potentially favourable results were found regarding the effects of the didactic use of HPS on the quality of argumentation and metacognition, although further research in this area would appear necessary.