Teaching Philosophy of Science to Science Students: An Alternative Approach

AbstractThis paper explores how work in the philosophy of science can be used when teaching scientific content to science students and when training future science teachers. I examine the debate on the concept of fitness in biology and in the philosophy of biology to show how conceptual pluralism constitutes a problem for the conceptual change model, and how philosophical work on conceptual clarification can be used to address that problem. The case of fitness exemplifies how the philosophy of science offers tools to resolve teaching difficulties and make the teaching of scientific concepts more adequate to the actual state of affairs in science.

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The Hows and whys of philosophy of science teaching: a comparative analysis

European Journal for Philosophy of Science ◽

10.1007/s13194-021-00421-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Henk W. de Regt ◽

Edwin Koster

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Philosophy Of Science ◽

Science Teaching ◽

Learning Objectives ◽

Teaching Philosophy ◽

Values In Science ◽

Student Groups ◽

Starting Point ◽

Different Types

AbstractWhat makes teaching philosophy of science to non-philosophy students different from teaching it to philosophy students, and how should lecturers in philosophy adapt to an audience of practitioners of a field of study that they are reflecting on? In this paper we address this question by analyzing the differences between these student groups, and based on this analysis we make suggestions as to how philosophy of science can be taught to non-philosophy students in an effective and attractive way. Starting-point is the observation that not only the background knowledge and interests of these students but also the aims of the respective courses will differ. We present a comparative analysis of the demands and conditions for teaching philosophy of science to the different types of students, focusing on learning objectives and didactic approaches. Next, we apply our analysis to a concrete example, the role of values in science, and discuss how this may be taught to either philosophy students or non-philosophy students. Finally, we discuss an alternative format for teaching philosophy to non-philosophy students.

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Teaching philosophy of science to scientists: why, what and how

European Journal for Philosophy of Science ◽

10.1007/s13194-013-0078-x ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 115-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Till Grüne-Yanoff

Keyword(s):

Philosophy Of Science ◽

Teaching Philosophy

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