Traditional science covers more science material in a given amount
of time compared to other
methods of teaching.
Students learn a lot about science.
Works well with larger classes as well as smaller classes.
Students get some experience working in a science lab and learn how
to perform experiments.
Disadvantages
Students learn "about science, rather than learning "the
scientific way". (Dewey 1944)
Students do not get very much experience discovering solutions to scientific
problems.
Students learn knowledge that others have gained, but do not learn
as much about how to discover that knowledge themselves.
Guided Discovery
Guided discovery requires the learners to actually discover the scientific
knowledge that they learn. Unlike true discovery, the instructor directs
what problems the learners will learn and sets the pace that they will
learn at. The students do, however, have to figure out how to solve the
problems that they are given. Generally, the students first discover specific
topics and then move to more general ones.
Advantages
The learners have to use problem solving skills to solve the problems.
They learn scientific knowledge through their own empirical efforts,
rather than simply being told what others have discovered.
They are forced to think and go beyond the given information to discover
information for themselves.
They learn the material better, since they actually have to discover
it.
There is still some structure to make sure that they can learn the
material in a beneficial order (Srisethanil)
Disadvantages
This method of teaching works best in a one to one environment, because
students learn at different rates.
It takes longer to learn the same amount of material (in terms of scientific
principles)(Srisethanil)
Learner Initiated
This is one step further than guided discovery. While guided discovery
involves the teacher choosing the problem, learner initiated discovery
involves the student deciding on the problem as well as coming up with
the solution. The student learns rules that relate parameters. The student
sets the pace at which topics are studied.
Advantages
Student must come up with both problem and solution
Student can choose problems that he finds interesting or exciting
Environment similar to that of actual scientific discovery (Srisethanil)
Disadvantages
Student may not be as good as the teacher at selecting problems to
study that will teach the necessary scientific knowledge.
More time consuming than other methods for covering the same concepts
Not appropriate for large class settings.
While all of the methods have their advantages and disadvantages, the
best way to educate is probably a mixture of several of these methods of
teasching. The guided discovery and learner initiated methods teach the
student many of the skills necessary for successful diiscovery, but the
traditional method of teaching allows the students to learn more topics
than the other two methods. It is important for scientists to have both
a good knowledge of science and the problem solving and other skills that
enable people to be great scientists.
One advantage of guided discovery is that the instructor can decide
what the students will learn and when, while still forcing the students
to think for themselves and simulating an actual scientific discovery.
In addition, while topics cannot be covered as quickly as by the traditional
method, it is likely that the students will learn the material better,
because they have to actually discover the principles that they learn.
Other Considerations
The guided discovery and learner initiated methods of teaching demand
more hands on work from the students and demand more thought and effort,
because the students have to actually discover. For this reason, it might
benefit students who are already better in science more. In addition, the
learner initiated method of teaching would require some discipline from
the students. Since students would move at different paces and would learn
about different subjects, it would be difficult to grade and would probably
lend itself better to being ungraded or graded through a non-traditional
method of grading. Since the student sets the pace and has a great deal
of control over the class, students who are not motivated by a desire to
learn or excitement about the subject, or a similar motivation could abuse
that freedom. On the other hand, since students have control of what they
will study, they are more likely to study something that they find interesting
and are therefore more likely to be motivated by excitement about the subject
matter. For these reasons and because the teacher does not control what
is learned, learner initiated learning is probably more suited to students
who already have some background knowledge of science and are disciplined
or interested enough to take advantage of the freedom offered by this method
of teaching. It is also more suited to learning the skills necessary to
solve scientific problems, rather than learning all of the scientific principles
necessary to understand all of the fundamentals of science.
The other consideration for the two non-traditional methods is that
it requires more individual attention and is difficult if the class is
too large. While the traditional approach can be applied (and is applied
in this and many other universities) to a class of several dozen or even
several hundred, it is impossible for one professor to supervise several
hundred students working on different scientific project. While it is,
of course, arguable whether students can really learn well in such large
classes, it is impractical to even attempt holding a class of that size
using either of the two methods that require individual attention.
The Perfect Mix
The best way to educate is probably a mix of the three techniques of
teaching, rather than any one technique exclusively. A mix of the traditional
method of teaching to cover enough topics and guided discovery to reinforce
certain topics and to teach problem solving and other vital skills while
the student learns the fundamentals is probably the best way to teach fundamentals.
After the student knows the fundamentals, guided discovery and learner
initiated discovery would allow the student to apply the fundamental principles
of science to real world problems and to gain experience doing projects
similar to what real world scientiststs work on.
Can Discovery Really Be Taught
Guided discovery and learner initiated learning both give students practise
using skills that are helpful for making a discovery. None of the three
methods, however, involve actually studying what skills are helpful in
making a discovery, but rather all, to varying degrees, involve practicing
those skills through exercises that are similar to the actual discovery
process. Some of the aspects, such as teamwork, determination, and having
the right attitude do not lend themselves to conventional teaching, but
rather are learned better through hands on experience. Other skills, such
as problem solving and organization of thought, can perhaps be taught both
through hands on experience and through study of techniques. It seems,
however, that exercises in which the student conducts processes similar
to those of an actual discovery work best, because they give the student
practice in the whole range of skills relevant to making discoveries if
the exercise is close enough to the actual discovery process and the problem
selected is a good one.
