constructivist approach?
http//:www.unaisariff.blogspot.com(This is not my own property. I copied this from another site in order to share with the teachers who prefer to refresh themselves to provide a better service. I hope this research peper will provide some evaluation about our own teaching)
Katerina Korcova
Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University
Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of Ghent, 19-21 September 2007
Abstract:
This contribution is a part of dissertation thesis which finds out if the teacher’s concept of schooling influences that pupils are able to keep the taught topic in mind. This article introduces a research based on the method of observation. The research was held with 16 teachers in the third class of primary school and the observation was focused on whether the teachers use the constructivist approach.
1 Introduction
This contribution is a partial outcome of a dissertation thesis, which deals with the influence of didactic processing of the subject matter and its intermediation to the pupils on pupil’s preconception and on duration of modified preconception in their minds. In order to ascertain the development of preconceptions scientists have so far been comparing pupils of different ages (e.g. Gavora, 1992, Blaskova, Jelinkova, 1993, Held, Pupala, Osuska, 1994, Pupala, Maskova, 1997). On the contrary, this work studies the development of pupil’s preconceptions among a group of the same age throughout one school semester within the period starting the moment a topic is taught, right after that and about six weeks later(1). An observation of the teaching of a given topic itself is a vital part of the project together with the following evaluation of the teaching according to the criteria of constructivist education compiled by Elizabeth Murphy (1997). The results of these observations are the main subject of this contribution.
The research has been held in connection with the current efforts to modernize schools in the environment of persisting transmissive style of education, which keeps the pupils passive when receiving information from a lecturing teacher. One of the possible ways out of the unfavourable situation of the Czech school system is to implement the constructivist approach in the classroom. This approach is trying to integrate the most of pupil’s personality in the education process and so put the teacher aside the centre of attention. It is necessary to add that what is generally believed to be the constructivist education is just a compromise based on several theories of constructivism. According to the radical constructivism teaching is lead as a subjective construction of reality, whereas no absolute truth is possible as everyone constitutes reality in a different way and no one can say that his or her construction is the only one correct. This idea is moderated by the social constructivism, which believes that learning is a social process where everyone constitutes their own subjective reality, yet it is probable to reach an agreement in a group of students. This agreement is then collectively taken as an objective construction of reality. In this process teacher is the one who prepares conditions for an active construction of pupils’ cognition (Klein, Oettinger, 2000).
The task of this contribution is to answer the question whether the observed teachers follow the constructivist approach in their lessons. The method of observation will be used. For evaluating the amount of constructivist characteristics present in teaching the checklist created by Elizabeth Murphy (1997) sets the criteria.
2 Methodology
The main research method for the part of the project presented here was to observe the schooling in a third grade early science class when a certain topic was taught – the human digestive system. The choice of method was inspired by education quality evaluation method, which is part of the Step by Step program (Krejcova, Kargerova, 2003) and the research of constructivist characteristics presence in learning projects (Murphy, 1997). In both cases there are categories stated ahead and a researcher notes down their presence or absence while observing the teaching. The Step by Step program uses interview as a supporting method of observation while Brtnova-Cepickova (2005) used another approach. In order to find constructivist characteristics in education she followed a questionnaire for teachers with unfinished sentences. Teachers themselves were to formulate answers to questions about their education concept. In the next stage she tried to verify the data collected by observing their teaching. She found out that the teachers usually answered in a way they expected to be desirable. On the contrary, their class work included other characteristics than those claimed in the questionnaire.
In effort to benefit from the best of the individual approaches this research uses observation of teaching together with a subsequent record into Murphy’s observation checklist (1997), since this is the only method of gaining information about didactic concept of subject matter treatment and mediation to the pupils, which uses categories recognizable just by an observation.
According to Murphy (1997) the characteristics of constructivist education are as follows:(2)
1. Multiple perspectives and representations of concepts and content are presented and encouraged by the teacher.
2. Goals and objectives are derived by the student or in negotiation with the teacher or system.
3. Teachers serve in the role of guides, monitors, coaches, tutors and facilitators.
4. Activities, opportunities, tools and environments are provided to encourage metacognition, self-analysis - regulation, -reflection & -awareness.
1. Multiple perspectives and representations of concepts and content are presented and encouraged by the teacher.
2. Goals and objectives are derived by the student or in negotiation with the teacher or system.
3. Teachers serve in the role of guides, monitors, coaches, tutors and facilitators.
4. Activities, opportunities, tools and environments are provided to encourage metacognition, self-analysis - regulation, -reflection & -awareness.
5. The student plays a central role in mediating and controlling learning.
6. Learning situations, environments, skills, content and tasks are relevant, realistic, authentic and represent the natural complexities of the 'real world'.
7. Knowledge construction and not reproduction is emphasized.
8. This construction takes place in individual contexts and through social negotiation, collaboration and experience.
9. The learner's previous knowledge constructions, beliefs and attitudes are considered in the knowledge construction process.
10. Problem solving higher-order thinking skills and deep understanding are emphasized.
11. Consideration of errors provides the opportunity for insight into students' previous knowledge constructions.
11. Consideration of errors provides the opportunity for insight into students' previous knowledge constructions.
12. Exploration is a favoured approach in order to encourage students to seek knowledge independently and to manage the pursuit of their goals.
13. Learners are provided with the opportunity for apprenticeship learning in which there is an increasing complexity of tasks, skills and knowledge acquisition with the help of a teacher.
14. Knowledge complexity is reflected in an emphasis on conceptual interrelatedness and interdisciplinary learning.
15. Collaborative and cooperative learning are favoured in order to expose the learner to alternative viewpoints
16. Scaffolding is facilitated to help students perform just beyond the limits of their ability.
17. Assessment is authentic and interwoven with teaching.
18. Primary sources of data are used in order to ensure authenticity and real-world complexity.
This system of characteristics has arisen as a result of synthesis of constructivist concepts of various authors(3) and is used to find out to what extend a concept is constructivistic. Even Murphy (1997) notices a certain disunity of opinions on what constructivism in education is and mentions that there are as many definitions of constructivist education as many authors or researchers there are. She gathered several of those definitions and created on their basis a research instrument which includes the list of characteristics of constructivist education the experts believe to be important. To put it simply, the more constructivist characteristics you can observe in a teaching, the more constructivist it is.
The summary of characteristics of constructivist education was available just in English. For that reason it was necessary to translate them carefully with the use Czech terminology or definitions of their English equivalents. The precization of the checklist’s translation took place hand in hand with the observer’s training based on videotapes from third grade classes in a primary school. I also benefited greatly from the course for education quality certificators and consultations with colleagues who have experience with teaching observations.
2.1 Research Sample
The research sample was created by female third grade teachers form primary school in Brno. I have addressed fifty teachers from twenty-five schools. The possibility to carry out research with each teacher was consulted with the school head but the final decision was on the teacher herself. Twenty-one had agreed at first, yet five of them have refused to take part in the research for some reason (health problems; the topic was not scheduled in the syllabus until the end of the school year; or they did not state the reason at all).
In the end, the research was held in 16 third grade classes in Brno primary schools. All schools followed the Primary school syllabus given by state and the teachers had master’s degree with the specialization to teach at the primary school.
The researcher was allowed to observe the classes when the digestive system was taught. He did not intrude into the lesson and asked the teachers not to inform him during the lesson about anything that was happening in the class (e.g. why or what preceded). The course of lesson was recorded in detailed notes and the observation checklist was filled in after the class (see the attachment 1).
3 Research Results
The research and assessment was done among sixteen female teachers of primary schools in total. We observed the occurrence or absence of eighteen characteristics of constructivist education. In case it was not possible to decide that a certain characteristic occurred in the teaching, the box "not observed" could have been ticked. The number of characteristics observed was crucial and the assessment was then worded as "the teaching is more constructivist than …". Since the number of constructivist characteristics in the teachings observed was very low, none of them can be called purely constructivist. It is also interesting to notice which constructivist characteristics did not occurred in the education, many times in none of the cases observed. You can find the table with results of individual observed classes in attachments.
We can see that none of the teachers achieved more than eight constructivist characteristics and only two of them scored eight. The most – five – of the female teachers taught a lesson with two constructivist characteristics. There was also one teacher whose teaching did not include any of the characteristics observed. These results bear evidence of the fact that constructivism is not preferred within the sample of teachers observed. Because of the low number of constructivist characteristics observed it is difficult to determine whether a more constructivist education influences the pupils’ results.
The teachers have the least problems with the first constructivist characteristic, which is the presentation of subject matter from different perspectives or using various methods by the teacher. This characteristic was observed with fifteen teachers of the sample.
The teachers have the least problems with the first constructivist characteristic, which is the presentation of subject matter from different perspectives or using various methods by the teacher. This characteristic was observed with fifteen teachers of the sample.
To present the content they used experiments illustrating the journey of food through the digestive system; a dialogue with pupils; a picture example; explanation; matching the organ pictures to their names or a manikin demonstration.
Half of the teachers also offer primary data to relate the education to the real world and its connection with the subject content. They give the pupils various extra materials to illustrate their explanations and course book version. For example, the teachers let pupils work with human internal organs models and compare them to their own height. They also brought in some loose sheets from encyclopaedias or handed round pieces of fruit for pupils to experience the journey of food through the digestive mechanism.
Six out of sixteen teachers included learning situations, techniques and tasks representing the natural complexity of the real world, which means the authentic tasks reflecting on real life situations related to the human digestive system. The pupils in groups were to solve problems they could encounter in their lives, such as the details of tooth development from primary to the permanent set of teeth or what it means when their granny says that her gallbladder hurts.
Both characteristics considering pupil’s previous knowledge, beliefs and attitudes in the construction process and emphasizing interdisciplinary learning when presenting new topics occurred in the observed teachings five times. We observed that the teachers first find out what the pupils already know about the topic by asking questions or setting up group works without giving the explanation at this stage. Only than did they present the information according to the syllabus for primary schools. They tried to link the new information to the already known terms using analogies (e.g. volcano throat and throat as a part of the digestive system), referring to films and fairytales or comparing the digestive system to a factory manufacturing raw materials into energy and nutrients.
In three cases the pupils had the opportunity to experience the apprenticeship learning (complexity of practical tasks and skills and knowledge acquisition with the help of a teacher). The teacher was describing the journey of the food while pupils were eating fruit, which gave them the personal experience of how it really is.
Self-regulation and metacognition – pupils know what they know and can, how to learn it and why; individual cognition through negotiation, collaboration and social experience – the cooperative learning activities are favoured by the teacher to enable the pupils to see some alternative viewpoints (such tasks are scheduled to enable cooperative activities) occurred in the sample twice.
Pupils were to evaluate what they had learnt, in which way they acquired it and how they liked it. In terms of cooperative activities they were given tasks with either clear statement of role division within the group (as the easiest way to solve a problem) or they had to get the information from their classmates who had already had experience with the certain topic. These activities were prompted by the teacher.
There was only one occurrence of characteristics emphasizing problem solving as a didactic method, which employs higher-order thinking and triggers deep understanding, and exploration as a favoured approach to encourage students to seek knowledge independently and to reach their goals. The pupils in groups had to put the digestive system together from pictures, name the parts and match functions to the individual organs. All that was based on their preconceptions, no explanation from the teacher preceded. According to the teacher’s instructions they examined what is happening to the food before it gets to the stomach as well. The teacher then illustrated the mash in the stomach by mixing the same food in a mixer.
The following constructivist characteristics did not occur in either of the sixteen observed classes:
· Goals and objectives are derived by the student or in negotiation with the teacher or system.
· Teachers serve in the role of guides, monitors, coaches, tutors and facilitators.
· The student plays a central role in mediating and controlling learning.
· Knowledge construction and not reproduction is emphasized.
· Consideration of errors provides the opportunity for insight into students' previous knowledge constructions.
· Scaffolding is facilitated to help students perform just beyond the limits of their ability.
· Assessment is authentic and interwoven with teaching.
Unfortunately, just these characteristics are considered to be vital in the constructivist education (e.g. Klein, Oettinger, 2000). For that reason neither of the observed lessons could be taken as purely constructivist unless these characteristics occur there. The answer to the topic question of this contribution is obvious for this sample. The teachers observed in this research do not teach using the constructivist approach.
4 Conclusion
The part of my dissertation thesis which I presented in this contribution looks at the approach to teaching the digestive system in the third grade of primary school. I have introduced the process of collecting information about schooling and its assessment, both supported by facts acquired during the observations.
However obvious it is that education is slowly moving away from the transmissive method, it is not generally successful. The evidence is that there was one teacher of our sample whose teaching concept did not meet the constructivist approach at none of the characteristics and that none of the teachers was able to lead a class using at least half of the constructivist characteristics observed.
The results of this research prompt to examine what situation there is in the schools following syllabi primarily stated as constructivist (such as Step by Step or Reading and Writing to Critical Thinking) or to map the situation later on, giving the schools time to implement the education reforms that have recently been put into practice.
Notes
1. This time distance was set after consulting teachers having experience with the transmissive model of teaching who claim that the pupils do not remember almost anything from the subject matter after six weeks. This argument was also supported by Kovalik (1995).
2. About syllabi evaluation based on the system of constructivist characteristics presented in Korcova (2006).
3. Jonassen (1991, 1994), Wilson & Cole (1991), Ernest (1995), Honebein (1996) see more at .
Bibliography
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BRTNOVA-CEPICKOVA, Ivana. Aktivni konstrukce poznani záku primarni skoly. Usti nad Labem, Univerzita J. E. Purkyne v Usti nad Labem, 2005. ISBN 80-7044-723-0.
GAVORA, Peter. Naivne teorie dietata a ich pedagogicke vyuzitie. Pedagogika, 1992, vol. 42, Nr. 1, p. 95 – 102. ISSN 0031-3815.
HELD, Lubomir, PUPALA, Branislav, OSUSKA, Lubica. Konstruktivisticky pristup k uceniu a vyucovaniu. Pedagogicka revue, 1994, vol. 46, Nr. 7 – 8, p. 319 – 327. ISSN 1335-1982.
KORCOVA, Katerina. Konstruktivismus v inovativnich vzdelavacich programech v ceske skole. In Sbornik praci filozoficke fakulty brnenske univerzity. U11. Brno: MU, 2006, p. 159-168. ISBN 80-210-4143-9.
KOVALIK, Susan. Integrovana tematicka vyuka. Kromeriz: Spirala, 1995. ISBN 80-901873-0-7.
KREJCOVA, Vera, KARGEROVA, Jana. Vzdelavaci program Zacit spolu: metodicky pruvodce pro prvni stupen zakladni skoly. Praha: Portal, 2003. ISBN 80-7178-695-0.
MURPHY, Elizabeth. Constructivist checklist. [online] , Constructivismus, 1997, [ 6.3.2006] . World Wide Web: < http://www.cdli.ca/~elmurphy/emurphy/cle4.html > .
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Unais M. Ariff
ARE YOU A CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHER?
http//:www.unaisariff.blogspot.com
(This is not my own property. I copied this from another site in order to share with the teachers who prefer to refresh themselves to provide a better service.)
("Teacher's job is not to teach, but to find the ways & circumstances of learning for the students." Here the author focuses on the personality & spiritual characteristics of teacher which can play as a facilitator to children. The author is very hopeful to achieve renaissance in the learning & society.)
Falling in the love of ‘teaching profession' out of the hundreds and thousands of choices is not a joke at all. Those who have loved the same for their lives are great, very great? Building a generation is not so easy as compared to the job of an engineer to build a structure or a doctor to cure a patient. Very sensitive role the teacher has to play. Building a generation means to give a shape to the future society what the country and the universe need now. And the better generation is the only panacea of any type of problem that our society faces today. Our society now needs the gentle minds to work peacefully, the lovable hearts to hug everybody & the strong body to protect and serve the country and the world. When this is the only dream that we recommend, then the society pleads for the ‘constructivist teachers' those who aim at "change"-within first, then in the generation as the children are the best link between the society & wisdom. The teacher is a creative learner who sits among the several learners to create a conducive environment in learning. Thus a big change is possible; a renaissance can be with us very soon if the preparedness is with us...
Spirituality is the prime necessity of a teacher. As spirituality is the fire, the teacher purifies himself by going deep in to it and becomes more creative by this. Every meditation charges him with potential energy to feel and to start anything new and positive for the society. Today, teachers are totally attached to their self family which makes them busy to solve their own problem. But when the teacher knows himself as a soul & the whole universe as a big spiritual entity, he realizes his "Dharma" & treats every one as the family member. He thinks for a change, transformation in the society. Unless & until the transformation takes place within him, how can he dream for a transformed generation out of him? That's why Yogi Sri Aurobindo said, "The teacher must be a yogi". Here yogi means a sense controlled man having abundant energy to motivate the children. He must be a sadhaka- a spiritual preceptor. He must have the right living style to inspire the children. A teacher who lacks morality has no good impact upon the children.
Teacher is the source of energy- the vibration. The students become charged by him & become more energetic even than the teacher. The spiritual eye of a tacher is so powerful that it touches all the souls in the class. His attachment in the very smile makes the classroom easy going. Just we can think of a spiritual guru when he speaks something the whole people are trapped with the vibration spread by him. When a teacher becomes lovable, spiritual, dynamic within, then all things can be done in a very short time. The main centre of energy is that powerful soul within the teacher. The change within the soul of the teacher is the basis of all creativity & dynamism in the system of learning.
Understanding the child is possible only when the teacher understands himself. If the teacher is busy with so much misunderstanding within him, in his family then how can he spread the value of understanding within the children? A teacher must understand the needs & the problems of the students. He should go to the level of the students to understand their personality & requirements. By understanding their state of mind & psychology only, the teacher can motivate them.
Teacher is the example in front of the children. If the teacher himself is an angry man, has no patience then expecting the values of patience & calmness are fruitless job of him. This thing happens in respect to the parents also because parents are the so called demy God of the child. The young mind of the child grows with the circumstances around him. He sees the culture of the parents, elders & teachers & learns the same from the very childhood. Teacher must be a learner first. He should ask the question to himself in the calm mind about the change he dreams to fulfill.
The teacher must be always innovative to adopt new methods to motivate the learning among the children. He must take up the child centered methods of teaching such as group discussion, seminar, panel discussion, field trip, brain storming, role play, etc. According to Albert Einstein, "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."School will be a right platform to fulfill the goal of education if the relationship between the students & teachers maintained properly. Teacher is the friend, philosopher & guide of the students. A teacher is the best motivator, a sparker and a charger. Students are inspired by their captain i.e. teacher.
All education is there within the learners. Only the work of the teacher is to facilitate, motivate, & inspire so that all qualities from their hidden treasure will be unfolded. All creativity lies within the children. Child posses the divine soul within which lies the source of all potentialities. Due to ignorance of his/her potentialities & abilities a child fears to do something. A teacher is a spiritual guide to enlighten the students' soul. Just like a brother a teacher helps the students in their growth. The teacher is a magnate to attract the iron like children. His personality itself provides ample spirit, huge energy, and immense motivation to the children. Teacher is the sun to radiate his power of motivation to build a world of students with strong characters. Personal involvement of the students in an activity gives inner motivation to them. They feel themselves precious of doing impossible possible.
To err is human. But the good actions must be praised. Every child has some good qualities within him. The role of the teacher is not to criticize him for his mischief but to praise his even single good quality & at the same time to inspire him with giving assurance of potentialities within him. The system of praise the single good quality grows the confidence within the child & he starts feeling himself worthy & valuable. All students are not born for academic education. They have their natural aim & tendencies. A teacher must identify the hobbies & natural abilities within a student so that he can motivate in that area build a nice & successful human being with special qualities.
Smile plays a very important role not only in the boundary of the school but also even in the outside world. Smile is the expression of love. It's the magnate, which pull all towards it. As everybody wants a smile, School should also be the platform of smile. A teacher touches the heart of a student through the magnetic touch of smile. Smile creates confidence & love among the children. The development of the children on the subjects happens only when they start liking & loving the teacher. ‘Unless the children love the teacher, how can they love the subject?' Smiling face of the teacher creates vibration among the children who become fearless to express everything. They ask questions. ‘Freedom automatically happens when smile exists in the classroom'.
Be a friend to the child. Friendship can help you to understand a child more & more. A child expresses his difficulties/problems only to his/her friend; he/she may be his/her mother, father or teacher. Once you exhibit your role as a taskmaster or ringmaster to your child, you spoil everything. The child starts hating you & hiding everything to you. He develops fear to you. That's why some parents & teachers are found to be in the problem that the child is not free & frank to tell his problem. Actually it's not the mistake of the child. It's the fault of the parents, teachers & elders who lack the art of ‘how to be a friend of the child'
A teacher can motivate the children to read more books. This is only possible when the children will find the teacher in reading. Books are the sources of energy & motivation. The teacher should be a regular reader of books & magazine & collect knowledge to inspire the children by telling new things. Teacher can create his own library & inspire the pupils to create small library their own.
By asking creative questions a teacher can create a thinking channel among the students. According to Socrates ‘the classroom is a fighting ground between the teacher & students & the weapons are the questions.'
The teacher himself is the motivation for the students. Through his personality, reading habits, physical culture etc he can show him as the example in the society & before the students because the pupils always like to follow their teacher. Thus a teacher can do a lot through his power of motivation. It is because of his motivation the pupils enjoy & learn in a very friendly environment. A teacher should realize his/her power of motivation & use it properly when & wherever needed. He has to demonstrate the essential values such as optimism, motivation, willingness to learn & teach, truth, non violence, never to think ill to others, creativity leadership, love etc.
Every child is different & unique. They are with many more specialties. The wicked children of your class are having the highest possibilities & multi-dimensional personalities. They become naughty, as they need more work to do, more fields to work & show their personalities. Choose the most naughty children of your class & assign them some works & see how quickest they are! Within fraction of minutes they do the work. The naughty children are the future's best human resources. The teachers & parents have to understand this truth more & more & should try to find out the possibilities & capabilities within them, so that "Every child will be special" in time to come. Children are born already with unlimited potentialities. It is we who either misguide & deform or help to develop them & make them worthy in every field. Every child has immense potentiality within. Teacher's work is to inspire the child in his own pace of creativity & innovation. Then only you can guide him/her to reach at his/her highest level. Recognizing the unique personality of a child & encouraging him is our duty.
The role of a teacher in the changing social scenario is becoming very challenging. The society is becoming more materialistic & values appear to be pushed into the background. There is nothing unusual about it. But the situation would not remain like this for ever. There are enough indications that our country would awaken once again to those eternal values for which this land has stood for many centuries. We are at a transition time during which it is essential that the values are maintained & nurtured. Only an ideal teacher whose life itself is a beacon light of values can lead a society in the right direction.
Unais M. Ariff
Factors which led to the rise of Science in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe.
‘Scientia’ in Latin means knowledge. Today ‘Science’ means organized common science. Modern science is because it developed in modern period. Tough the renewal of learning in Europe, which begun with 12th century Scholasticism, came to an end about the time of the Black Death, and the initial period of the subsequent Italian Renaissance is sometimes seen as a lull in scientific activity, the real development of science has begun in around 1500 in European history. This scientific revolution comes in the wake of renaissance in Europe. There are several factors involved, which led for rise of Science in Europe. Copernican revolution is the mainstay of the scientific revolution and the renaissance of science in Europe. Other factors are development of Experimental method (The Scientific Methods), Mathematics and nature connection (Mathematization of physics), scientific knowledge in practice, development of scientific institutions (Scientific Societies and Universities), sense of freedom and adventure, reaction against authority, colonization, commercial capitalism, requirement of calendar, Printing Press, the Spread of Knowledge, men of genius, humanism and individualism, development of astronomy, voyages and travel and use of gunpowder. Some of these played major role in the renaissance of science in Europe.If we can summarize the above factors, the change to the medieval idea of science occurred for four reasons: (1) seventeenth century scientists and philosophers were able to collaborate with members of the mathematical and astronomical communities to effect advances in all fields; (2) scientists realized the inadequacy of medieval experimental methods for their work and so felt the need to devise new methods (some of which we use today); (3) academics had access to a legacy of European, Greek, and Middle Eastern scientific philosophy they could use as a starting point (either by disproving or building on the theorems); and (4) groups like the British Royal Society helped validate science as a field by providing an outlet for the publication of scientists’ work. These changes were not immediate, nor did they directly create the experimental method used today, but they did represent a step toward Enlightenment thinking (with an emphasis on reason) that was revolutionary for the time. Assessment of the state of science before the scientific revolution, examination of the differences in the experimental methods utilized by different “scientists” during the seventeenth century, and exploration into how advances made during the scientific revolution affected the scientific method used in science today will provide an idea of how revolutionary the breakthroughs of the seventeenth century really were and what impact they’ve had.
The scientific revolution is the Copernican revolution (1543-1687). This begun with a book, On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres by Nicolas Copernicus in 1543. This book was the first to postulate that the Earth was not the center of the Universe. It was such a striking change from past beliefs that it made many realize that not everything there was to know had yet been learned. Further, this gave a new dimension in the field of astronomy. The geocentric theory rejected where heliocentric theory came up challenging the authorities. In his theory he said that All heavenly bodies do not move around the same center, Earth is not the center of the universe, but the sun, Stars are much further away from the sun, and the Earth and other planets revolve around the sun giving the year. But it took around seventy years to reach to the people properly due to the preface written by Ossiander who was the publisher of the book, said that it is only a calculatory device and need not be physically true. Books of astronomical calculations especially began to pile up: this was the beginning of mathematical astronomy. As astronomical observations and calculations piled up, the problems with the Ptolemaic universe also piled up. More than anything else, it was this pile of mathematical calculations that pushed Copernicus to radically revise the Ptolemaic universe.
Galileo Galilee (1564-1642) who is considered as the father of science, made another huge turning point in this. His methematization of physics was a crucial thing in the rise of science. Mathematics and physics were considered as the sections of philosophy during pre-science period. Mathematization not only combined experiments, observations and physical phenomena with mathematics, but also led to the use of instruments in observations. Data became quantitative following methematization of physics. The entire field in science became quantitative. Galileo combined the two roles of observer and theorist and, more than anyone else, provided the empirical discoveries that cinched the Copernican-Keplerian universe. First, in 1609, he eagerly read Kepler's New Astronomy and bought into it completely. That same year he bought a curious new Dutch invention, the telescope. While the telescope had been around for a few years, he was the first to use it to systematically look at the heavens. What he saw amazed even him.
Use of instruments in observations too an important factor, which gave rise of science in Europe. Introduction of Galileo’s telescope, and other instruments made easier to study astronomy. Use of instruments in experiments and experimental techniques gave rapid development in science.
Scientific knowledge in practice is another important factor which helped in rise of science. This made the people to think scientifically. Science uses intuition, intellect, sensory input, imagination and creation. A dynamic conception of science developed replacing the static conception in early science. Scientific frame or the attitude mind developed with this, which led for search of testable answers.
Yet science and improvement of machines had quietly been going on throughout the late middle ages. Great thinkers had devised new ways to look at scientific questions. William of Occam for example noted that the most likely explanation for phenomena was simplest explanation. This rule we now call Occam's Razor. Advances had been made in agriculture, and transportation (especially with the development of the caravel, the compass, and the astrolabe). Another major factor, and perhaps the true spark of the Scientific Revolution, may have been gunpowder.
Development of scientific institutions and universities gave a considerable contribution in the rise of science in Europe in 16th and 17th centuries. Many universities have begun during this time. Kings also saw the value of encouraging scientists by creating scientific societies, where great minds could meet and discuss ideas, research, and new developments. These acted as think tanks that could develop useful ideas. The Royal Society in Great Britain founded in 1662 is probably the most famous. Both Sir Isaac Newton (The father of modern physics and inventor of calculus) and Robert Boyle (the father of modern chemistry) were early members. Italy was the main country where leading scientists were educated. University of Pisa and university of Padua where Galileo was educated are greatest among them. Italy was the center of learning during this period.
‘Integrated use’ of reason and sense experience is another source gave rise to Science in Europe. There were artisans and scholars where there was no relationship between these two groups even through the ideas. They were treated as two different casts during pre-science period. Francis Bacon advocated in combining the method of scholars and craftsman (artisans). This was a big leap in development of science with technology. This was a turning point in application of science in day-to-day life.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was the first man to enunciate a method for making the technological innovations that were beginning to change European life. The ancient Greeks had felt that deduction was sufficient to access all important information. Bacon criticized this notion. He put forth the hypothesis that valid information about a subject could only be obtained through scientific experimentation. Under Bacon's regime, phenomena was observed, hypotheses made based on the observation. Tests would be conducted based on hypotheses. If the tests produced reproducible results then conclusions could be made. These conclusions would spur additional questions and the process would begin again. The scientific method began to be applied to all technical areas from astronomy to farming. These advances generally made life easier and understanding broader. He proposed the Aristotelian model of induction and empiricism as the best model of human knowledge; in inductive thinking, one begins by observing the variety of phenomena and derives general principles to explain those observations. This model of systematic empirical induction was the piece that completed the puzzle in the European world view and made the scientific revolution possible.
Scientific regularities are the laws of nature. Search regularities even contributed in rise of science. Search for secrets of nature developed with the development of scientific thinking. Later this created routs for creation of laws in science. Boyle’s law, Charles’s law and Snell’s law are some of these laws. New techniques developed along with this.
By 1650, the pace of scientific research was quickening. Private academies were formed in Florence, Paris, and London in order to share and publish scientific research. In 1662 and 1667, the French and English monarchies issued royal charters. An international community of scholars began to fulfill the vision of Francis Bacon. The Royal Society of London was particularly influential.
Colonization even can be said as factor for rise of science in Europe. Though civilization begun near the rivers for agriculture, cities had developed with science. Harbors and roads were constructed enabling transport. Science had to face a challenge at this moment, to supply machineries and technical support. Scientists had to invent new things to face these challenges. This led for certain extend for the rise of science.
Requirement of calendar reform and navigational instruments is another factor that gave rise to science. Scientists had another challenge, to supply an exact calendar system and navigational instruments for the discovery of new world, begun with discovery travel of Columbus. The continuing and increasing overseas voyages undertaken by Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries created a demand for more accurate map-making. In a long life devoted to cartography, Mercator developed the “Mercator" projection and, in 1585, issued a world atlas. An increasing
knowledge of geography widened the horizons of knowledge for Europeans. The need to improve navigation stimulated developments in mathematics and astronomy.
Commercial capitalism too can be said as a factor for the rise of science in Europe in 16thand 17th centuries. Need of the people increased with commercial capitalism. European countries accepted the commercial capitalism, than eastern countries. This made the scientists to supply various things where they had use modern scientific methods at that period.
Changes in the society and social structures took place with the commercial capitalism. These changes increased the need of the people, which made science to produce new things to make the life style of people easier and comfortable. This was a very good factor helped in the rise of science.
Another major factor, and perhaps the true spark of the Scientific Revolution, may have been gunpowder. The advent of gunpowder in Europe caused a revolution in warfare. First, cannons were developed and then hand held weapons that, in effect, swept the aristocratic knight from the field of battle. This did not so much destroy the aristocracy of Western Europe as it forced aristocrats to become a part of the regular force of a more centralized power, taking away their independence. With the invention of cannon they could no longer shut themselves up in a castle to avoid the wrath of their king. On a larger scale, innovations in warfare often proved the decisive factor in victory or defeat and controlled the fate of vast territories. It thus became vital for monarchs to sponsor technical experimentation in weapons.
Rewards to the scientists too helped for new inventions of scientists, which led the rise of science for greater extend in a short period. Monarchs, such as Czar Peter the Great of Russia, and their advisors began to realize that advances in other areas could be used to help the state. They gave monopolies to people who created new products, and then taxed the proceeds. They rewarded inventors and scientists and focused science by setting goals. By the mid-1600s scientists and inventors were vying with each other to make discoveries and advance science. It was because of a prize awarded by the British Parliament to the first person to develop a means for determining longitude at sea that the chronometer was invented.
Men of genius contributed a lot in the rise of science in Europe. There was hundreds of top class scientists produced during 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo Galilee, Francis Bacon, Tycho Brahe, Isaac Newton, Vesalius, William Harvey are some of these scientists. In 1628, a major breakthrough in medicine was achieved when a London physician, William Harvey, announced his theory that blood circulated continuously in the body. He had found a way of measuring the amount of blood pumped by the heart and it was obvious that the body could not possibly manufacture all the blood that was being pumped. It had to be continuously re-circulated. Servetus and Colombo, half a century earlier, had theorized that the heart pumped blood to the lungs where it was aerated and returned to the heart for circulation to the rest of the body. Harvey proved that theory to be correct, but was unable to explain how the blood flowed from arteries into veins. That would be left to Marcello Malpighi, who, in 1661, discovered capillaries in the lungs of a frog
Followings are some development took place during the late half of the 17th century with men of genius.
Improved microscopes, barometers, and thermometers were developed. Guericke invented the air pump by which to study vacuums. Newton invented the sextant for improved navigation. Fermat developed the modern theory of numbers. Leibniz and Newton developed differential calculus. Christian Huygens established the "Law of Inverse Squares", an important principle utilized in Newton's astronomy. The application of statistics to population studies was begun by John Graunt and Sir William Petty. Edmund Halley drew up mortality tables which were utilized by the first life insurances companies in London in the 18th century.
Jean Picard measured a degree of longitude and the circumference of the earth at the equator with considerable accuracy. A collaboration of several scientists demonstrated that the earth, indeed, bulged at the equator. The Greenwich observatory was established as zero degrees longitude. Edmund Halley studied and catalogued the stars from the southern hemisphere. He predicted the periodic return (every 75 years) of the comet which has since been named after him. Thomas Boyle formulated the law of Physics that with temperature constant, the pressure of a gas, multiplied by its volume is also constant.
Leeuwenhoek discovered sperm and bacteria with his microscope. Swammerdam dissected insects and discovered the bacterial cause for decay. Edward Tyson described the orangutan as a "man of the woods", compared the anatomy of man with that of the monkey, and saw the chimpanzee as intermediary between the two. Athanasius Kirchner, a Jesuit, discovered microorganisms in the blood of plague victims, and stated that the transfer of noxious organisms from one person to another was the cause of infectious disease.
In 1712, Thomas Newcomen manufactured the first reliable steam engine. The industrial age had begun and the world would never be the same again. The man who has come to symbolize this age of scientific progress was an absent-minded professor by the name of Isaac Newton. Working as a scholar at Cambridge University, he combined experimentation with mathematics, and pulled together the works of several of his scientific predecessors and colleagues, to establish a comprehensive explanation of the physical laws that govern gravitation and astronomy. Along the way, he discovered that different elements, when subject to heat, gave off a characteristic color in the light spectrum. The spectrum of light coming from each star was therefore useful in revealing the chemical composition of that star. It was also useful in determining how the star was moving with respect to the earth, and gave some suggestions about the distance of stars from the earth. A principal feature of his gravitational theory was that the force which caused objects to fall to the earth was the same force which kept the planets in their orbits.
M.A.M. Unais
