Historical Experiments in Students’ Hands: Unfragmenting Science through Action and History
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Cavicchi_Historical Experiments.pdf
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792.98 KB
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Adobe PDF
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Author(s)
Cavicchi, Elizabeth
Date Issued
August 2008
Journal
Science & Education
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Citation
Cavicchi, Elizabeth Mary. “Historical Experiments in Students’ Hands: Unfragmenting Science through Action and History.” Science & Education 17, no. 7 (August 2008): 717–749.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Two students, meeting together with a teacher, redid historical experiments. Unlike conventional instruction where science topics and practices often fragment, they experienced interrelatedness among phenomena, participants’ actions, and history. This study narrates actions that fostered an interrelated view. One action involved opening up historical telephones to examine interior circuitry. Another made sound visible in a transparent air column filled with Styrofoam bits and through Lissajous figures produced by reflecting light off orthogonal nineteenth century tuning forks crafted by Koenig and Kohl. Another involved orienting magnetic compasses to reveal the magnetism of conducting wires, historically investigated by Oersted and Schweigger. Replicating Homberg’s triboluminescent compound elicited students’ reflective awareness of history. These actions bore pedagogical value in recovering some of the interrelatedness inherent in the history and reintroducing the wonder of science phenomena to students today.
MIT Department
MIT Edgerton Center
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-006-9005-2
