Biology Education: The Value of Taking Student Concerns Seriously

Abstract

This article examines the question of how biology courses can take student concerns more seriously than they often do. The focus is on school biology although the arguments apply to other biology courses too. The article begins by examining Michael Young’s argument that schools should provide students with access to powerful knowledge—the sort of knowledge that they are unlikely to obtain from elsewhere—and compares this with John White’s argument that the curriculum should enable student flourishing, and that as part of this, there should be more student choice about what they study. It then discusses recent work on the benefits of independent research projects, in which students undertake authentic investigative work where they have considerable control over the work, and concludes that these generally motivate students and are a good source of learning for them. It goes on to examine what lessons might be learnt for school biology from the informal learning sector, such as Natural History Museums, where visitors have great autonomy with regard to what they study. Finally, it looks at the concept of ‘worldviews’ and argues that this provides another argument for taking student concerns seriously. The article concludes that taking student concerns seriously in school biology would facilitate human development, in particular, development towards greater student autonomy, and that this can be done in ways that have been tried and allow for high quality biology teaching and learning.

Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge: Student natural history knowledge and the significance of birds

“…We found no evidence for well-defined gender differences in focus as existed in the 19th century (Jackson-Houlston, 2006). Further research would be necessary to discover whether the contexts of learning might be adjusted to provide better opportunities to engage female children/students (Reiss, 2018). For example, adopting outdoor science education (OSE) in schools and colleges could have multiple benefits, supporting and building girls' general engagement with biology and science education and, more specifically, NHK knowledge and 'nature connectedness' (Stevenson et al, 2021).…”

El Proceso De Enseñanza-Aprendizaje De La Práctica De Campo en La Formación Inicial Del Profesor De Biología

“…Antes de comenzar la discusión de este trabajo investigativo, se quiere dejar plasmado que, aunque disímiles investigadores concuerdan en decir que las Prácticas de Campo constituyen una estrategia pedagógica (Caamaño, 2003;Legarralde et al, 2009;Ríos & Ruedas, 2009;Delgado, 2013;Jeronen et al, 2016;Reiss, 2018). Los autores de esta investigación concuerdan en que las Prácticas de Campo son una PAIDEIA XXI disciplina con sus respectivas asignaturas, como sucede con la carrera de Licenciatura en Educación.…”

Biology in the 21st-Century: Transformation in biology science and education in supporting the sustainable development goals

“…Based on biology science education standard, students' first real experience of science learning is key role in the development of their skills, dispositions, practices and knowledge in helping students to learn about science (Reiss, 2018). Hence, the lecturers must teach and discuss about biology in students' daily life, as well as bring the students the social issues, particularly those which have been mentioned in sustainable development goals.…”

“…Additional contribution of the New Biology is to focus on the connections between the partially assembled puzzle sections and dramatically speed up overall assembly (Labov et al, 2010;National Research Council, 2009). New Biology education must facilitate human development, in particular, the development towards greater student autonomy, which can be done in ways that have been tried and allowed for high quality of biology teaching and learning (Reiss, 2018).…”