Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education (한국과학교육학회지)

The Korean Association for Science Education (한국과학교육학회)
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The Limitations and Hopes of the Laboratory Method as the Epistemology of School Science in the 19th Century

19세기 학교 과학의 인식론으로서 실험실 방법의 한계와 희망

  • Received : 2023.08.07
  • Accepted : 2023.09.27
  • Published : 2023.10.31
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Abstract

Through a review of the literature relevant to the history of science education, this study explored the limitations and hopes of the laboratory method as the epistemology of school science in the 19th century. The laboratory method was introduced into the school curriculum based on the inductive method of science as an ideal of the Scientific Revolution. The method emphasized direct contact with natural phenomena and aimed at mental discipline and moral uplift of students learning science in school. However, the laboratory method had the same epistemological limitations as the traditional philosophy of science, which were also found to be problematic in the context of school science education. Nevertheless, the laboratory method has significant implications for contemporary school science education in the sense that it emphasized direct encounters with natural phenomena as the primary means of understanding through scientific inquiry and that it sought the moral uplift of students through engagement in scientific practices for understanding phenomena. In particular, it is necessary to reflect on the hopes associated with the laboratory method as we prepare to implement the new science curriculum in schools in Korea.

본 연구에서는 과학교육사에 관한 문헌들을 고찰하여 19세기 학교 과학의 인식론으로서 실험실 방법이 지니는 한계와 희망에 대해 살펴보았다. 실험실 방법은 과학 혁명의 이상이었던 귀납적인 과학 방법론을 토대로 하여 학교 교육과정에 도입되었으며, 자연 현상에 대한 직접적인 접촉을 강조하고, 학교에서 과학의 공부하는 학생들의 정신 도야는 물론 도덕적 고양을 함께 도모하였다. 하지만 실험실 방법은 과학에 대한 전통적인 철학적 입장과 같은 인식론적인 한계를 지니고 있었으며, 학교 과학 교육의 맥락에서도 이와 관련된 제한점들이 문제로 지적되었다. 그럼에도 불구하고 실험실 방법은 과학적 탐구를 통한 이해의 가장 기본적인 방법으로서 자연 현상과의 직접적인 대면을 중요시하고, 현상을 이해하기 위한 과학적 실행을 통해 도덕적 고양에 이르는 것까지 추구하였다는 점에서 오늘날의 과학 교육에 유의미한 시사점을 제공하고 있다. 특히 새로운 과학 교육과정의 적용을 준비하고 있는 현 시기에 실험실 방법이 함의한 희망에 대해 다시금 궁구할 필요가 있다.

Keywords

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