Goethe’s conception of “experiment as mediator” and implications for practical work in school science
Goethe’s conception of “experiment as mediator” and implications for practical work in school science
There has been growing criticism over the aims, methods, and contents of practical work in school science, particularly concerning their tendency to oversimplify the scientific practice with focus on the hypothesis-testing function of experiments. In this article, we offer a reading of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s scientific writings—particularly his works on color as an exquisite articulation of his ideas about experimentation—through the lens of practical school science. While avoiding the hasty conclusions made from isolated experiments and observations, Goethe sought in his experiments the interconnection among diverse natural phenomena and rejected the dualistic epistemology about the relation of humans and nature. Based on a close examination of his color theory and its underlying epistemology, we suggest three potential contributions that Goethe’s conception of scientific experimentation can make to practical work in school science.
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Park, Wonyong
eae3796e-fc99-43ba-98be-53ea5bdb14fc
Song, Jinwoong
f29b2117-5711-4a0a-b607-b8a1921f44fc
Park, Wonyong
eae3796e-fc99-43ba-98be-53ea5bdb14fc
Song, Jinwoong
f29b2117-5711-4a0a-b607-b8a1921f44fc
Park, Wonyong and Song, Jinwoong
(2018)
Goethe’s conception of “experiment as mediator” and implications for practical work in school science.
Science & Education, 27 (1-2), .
(doi:10.1007/s11191-018-9965-z).
Abstract
There has been growing criticism over the aims, methods, and contents of practical work in school science, particularly concerning their tendency to oversimplify the scientific practice with focus on the hypothesis-testing function of experiments. In this article, we offer a reading of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s scientific writings—particularly his works on color as an exquisite articulation of his ideas about experimentation—through the lens of practical school science. While avoiding the hasty conclusions made from isolated experiments and observations, Goethe sought in his experiments the interconnection among diverse natural phenomena and rejected the dualistic epistemology about the relation of humans and nature. Based on a close examination of his color theory and its underlying epistemology, we suggest three potential contributions that Goethe’s conception of scientific experimentation can make to practical work in school science.
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Accepted/In Press date: 27 March 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 March 2018
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Local EPrints ID: 453605
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/453605
ISSN: 0926-7220
PURE UUID: 11ca1642-0341-49e8-bdfc-4a1a5d24f3ab
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Date deposited: 20 Jan 2022 17:38
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:09
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Author:
Wonyong Park
Author:
Jinwoong Song
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