COURSE UNIT TITLE

: THE PHILOSOPHY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
IFE 6027 THE PHILOSOPHY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION ELECTIVE 3 0 0 8

Offered By

Science Teacher Education

Level of Course Unit

Third Cycle Programmes (Doctorate Degree)

Course Coordinator

PROFESSOR DOCTOR GÜL ÜNAL ÇOBAN

Offered to

Science Teacher Education

Course Objective

Being able improve ideas about philosophy and development of science education.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Understanding the nature of scientific explanation, causality and theories etc.
2   Knowing about nature of science.
3   Understanding the various philosophical attempts to characterize scientific methodology.
4   Seeing the role that Philosophical concepts play in science.
5   Critically engaging with original texts in philosophy of science.
6   Evaluating the effects of philosophy of science on the development of science education.

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Introduction: Science, Nature of Science (NoS) and Philosophy of Science (PoS) Which is valid for science education: The NoS or PoS
2 The foundations of PoS as a component of NoS: Epistemology; Ontology; Axiology
3 Logic of Explanation and Causality
4 Theories and Models
5 Inductivist account of science: a- Naïve Inductivism b- Sophisticated Inductivism
6 Popper s response to the problem of Induction: Falsificationism
7 Limits of Falsificationism: Copernican Revolution Theories as Structures: Thomas Kuhn (Paradigm & Normal Science)
8 Mid-term exam
9 Kuhn: Scientific revolutions Theories as Structures: Lakatos Research Programmes
10 Incommensurability Thesis Feyerabend s Anarchist theory
11 Scientific realism and Anti-realism Rationalism/Relativism Objectivism in science
12 The reflections of PoS on science education. How to philosophize with children
13 How to develop materials to raise students understanding of PoS and NoS
14 Students examples of materials developed on PoS and NoS
15 Final Exam

Recomended or Required Reading

Textbooks:
Akarsu, B. (1994). Ça da Felsefe: Kant tan Günümüze Felsefe Akımları. Inkılap Kitabevi. 6. Baskı.
Çüçen, K., A. (2001) Bilgi Felsefesi. Asa Kitabevi, Bursa
Giere, R. N. (1991). Understanding Scientific Reasoning. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. 3rd ed.
Godfrey-Smith, P. (2003). An Introduction To The Philosophy of Science Theory and Reality. The University of Chicago Press.
Reichenbach, H. (1993). Bilimsel Felsefenin Doğuşu. (Çev. C. Yıldırım). Istanbul: Remzi Kitabevi.
Kuhn, T (1970). The sturctures of scientific revolutions.

References:
Akerson, V., L.; Volrich, M., L. (2006) Teaching Nature of Science Explicitly in A First-Grade Internship Setting. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43, 4, 377.394.
Aslan, H. (1993a) Gerçekçilik Biçimleri. Felsefe Dünyası, 10, 69-73.
Aslan, H. (1993b) Gerçekçilikle Karşı-Gerçekçili in Anlambilimsel Tanımı, Felsefe Dünyası, 7, 60-66.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Presentations, group discussions, brain storming, document analysis, case analysis.

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTEG MIDTERM GRADE
2 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE
3 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE MTEG * 0.40 + FCG * 0.60
4 RST RESIT
5 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTEG * 0.40 + RST * 0.60


Further Notes About Assessment Methods

The homeworks will be assessed by directly adding to the mid-term scores. The exam dates will be indicated in the lesson plan. As the exam dates become definite, the previously announced dates may change.

Assessment Criteria

In-class participation and written homework, end-of-semester final homework and short report presentation.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

1.It is obligated to continue to at least 70% of lessons .
2. Behaviours such as copying in exams, clashing and making intials in the publications will be concluded with the opening of a disciplinary investigation.
3.The instructor has right to make quizzes. The scores obtained from quizzes will be directly added to exam scores.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

gul.unal@deu.edu.tr

Office Hours

weekdays - working hours

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 13 3 39
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 13 7 91
Preparation for midterm exam 1 6 6
Preparation for final exam 1 6 6
Preparing assignments 13 4 52
Final 1 2 2
Midterm 1 2 2
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 198

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10
LO.1254
LO.2254
LO.3254
LO.4254
LO.5254
LO.6254