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With the help of the methodology of Action Research, this thesis
aims to study the influence of the combination of
history of science with senior high school fundamental
physics teaching. The influence includes students'''' academic
performance, their understanding of the nature of
science, and their critical thinking. Moreover, the study
also analyzes the process of the interaction between students''''
learning and the teacher''''s teaching while the researcher
applied the new teaching methodology to her teaching.
The Action Research helps us to understand the problems that
senior high school teachers usually encounter as
well as the methods which is able to solve the problems.
This thesis would be useful for providing a referential
framework and teaching exemplar of a combination of
history of science with senior high school fundamental physics
teaching.
The researcher used the model of "historical case study" and
"interactive historical vignettes" to combine history of
science with physics teaching. When teaching physics, the
researcher asked her students questions so as to provoke an
interaction between the instructor and students and among
students. The questions focused on those of
critical thinking; the ways to ask questions was of
interrogation or Socratic dialogue. The researcher
participated the whole process of teaching－from the discovery
of questions, the study of documentation, the teaching
project for a combination of history of science with the
unit about heat in the course of senior high school fundamental
physics, the edit of the supplementary teaching material on the
unit about light, teaching activities, to an evaluation of
students'''' workbooks, etc. While the researcher taught,
her colleague recorded the teaching process. After her teaching
activities, the researcher analyzed the contents in the vedio
tape, students'''' workbooks, interview data, and survey data.
The analysis reveals the process of interaction between the
teacher''''s teaching and students'''' learning by combining
history of science with physics teaching. Besides, the
analysis also attempts to present students'''' learning situation,
the problems that teachers face, and other variances
under such a teaching material and methodology. The data
the researcher collected also include students'''' grades of the
first and second monthly tests, " Understanding of the
Nature of Science", interview on "A
Understanding the Nature of Science", "Cornell Critical Thinking
Test, Level X", "Critical Thinking Assessment of
the Unit about Heat", "Critical Thinking Assessment of
the Unit about Light", questionnaire of students'''' preference for
different teaching methodologies, and students'''' papers on
history of science which they studied in winter vacation.
For the treatment class, the researcher taught them Fundamental
Physics combined with history of science. For
the contol class, the other teacher taught them
Fundamental Physics with the tradtional method. The results of
this research are as follows:
(1) There was no significant effect associated with
instructional approach on the students'''' achievement.
(2) The students of the treatment class tend to develop more
positivism in regard of understanding the nature of
science than those students of the control class. Through
interviews with students, the researcher proves that the
teaching combined with history of science does facilitate
students'''' understanding of the nature of science.
(3) The scores which the students of both groups get from
"Cornell Critical Thinking Test, Level X " did not reach
statistical significance. This fact reveals that both groups
of students have equal ability of objective reasoning.
(4) In "Critical Thinking Assessment of the Unit about Heat"
and "Critical Thinking Assessment of the Unit about
Light," under the dimension of "the ability to clearly
analyze the relationship between different things" of the
critcial thinking assessment, except for that of the third
question, all reach significant gender differences. This result
shows that the treatment group have a richer and a more specific
statement on conceptional connections. The
numbers of the passing the assessments, under the
dimensions of "exploring the keys of problems", "applying
scientific knowledge", "applying the principles of
logic reasoning", and "possessing constructive thinking" of
the critcial thinking assessment， are not many to reach
statistical significance, but the students of the treatment
group passing the assessments are much more than those of the
control group. Particularly, in the dimension of "possessing
constructive thinking" which students of the treatment class
get is much more than those of the control class, except
that both groups get zero in the third question. Accordingly,
the treatment group is more capable of making deeper
thinking or analogical interpretation.
(5) According to the questionnaire of students'''' preference for
different instructional approach，textbook written by the
researcher is different from school''''s textbook.
Actually, students more like this textbook which combines with
history of science. Furthermore, while teaching with
the new approach, the researcher likes to ask students
questions so as to help them construct concepts. The students
support such kind of instructional approach as well.
They also ensure that the historic approach is able to help
them comprehend the developing process of scientific concepts
and provide them with the opportunities for thinking
critically. In this way, they can construct their new ideas
and better understand the nature of science.
(6) Through the process of Action Research, it is much easier
for the researcher to combine physics teaching with
history of science and to make the history not merely a
"story." Although the researcher only did Action Research on
the first graders, she also taught the second graders
with this new approach. She raised questions and asked
the second graders to discuss in class. Indeed, this method
encourages students to think, get a more precise concept of
science, and know the nature of science.
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