A Love of Discovery Science Education

The Second Career of Robert Karplus

INNOVATIONS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Series Editor: Karen C. Cohen, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Are Schools Really Like This?: Factors Affecting Teacher Attitude toward School Improvement J. Gary Lilyquist

Education for a Sustainable Future: A Paradigm of Hope for the 21st Century Edited by Keith A. Wheeler and Anne Perraca Bijur

The Hidden Curriculum-Faculty-Made Tests in Science Part 1: Lower-Division Courses Part 2: Upper-Division Courses Sheila Tobias and Jacqueline Raphael

Internet Links for Science Education: Student-Scientist Partnerships Edited by Karen C. Cohen

A Love of Discovery: Science Education: The Second Career of Robert Karplus Robert G. Fuller

Place of Science in a World of Values and Facts Loucas G. Christophorou

Portable Technologies: Science Learning in Context Edited by Robert F. Tinker and Joseph S. Krajcik

Science, Technology, and Society: A Sourcebook on Research and Practice Edited by David D. Kumar and Daryl E. Chubin

Technology, Science Teaching, and Literacy: A Century of Growth Kenneth P. King

Time for Science Education Michael R. Matthews

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A Love of Discovery Science Education

The Second Career of Robert Karpl us

Edited by

Robert G. Fuller University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Lincoln, Nebraska

Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A love of discovery: science education, the second career of Robert Karplus/edited by Robert C. Fuller.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Science-Study and teaching. 2. Karplus, Robert. I. Karplus, Robert. II. Fuller, Robert C.

Q181.3 .L68 2001 S07'.1-dc21

ISBN 978-0-306-46687-8 ISBN 978-94-007-0876-1 (eBook)

2001038776

DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0876-1

©2002 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

http://www.wkap.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

A c.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

DEDICATION

To the memory of Robert Karplus

Robert Karplus 1927-1990 circa 1970

Preface

Early in the 1990s I was attending a conference in Washington, D.C. The con­ference was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and was directed at the difficulties in disseminating educational innovations. During that con­ference a videotape of a panel discussion among leading science educators was shown. One of the panelists was Alan 1. Friedman, whom I had met years earlier at the Lawrence Hall of Science. During the videotaped discussion Alan said that the paradigm that he had always had for a scientist and edu­cator was Bob Karplus. I turned to my neighbor and said something like; "Someone should collect the publications of Bob Karplus so people can read his work today."

A few years later the notice of the deadline to apply for a faculty devel­opment leave from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln crossed my desk just after I had spent several hours looking for a copy of the Karplus "seven coun­tries" paper (see it reprinted in Chapter 6). The thought came, Well, why not me? So I made a phone call to my wife, Margaret, and I decided to apply for a semester of developmental leave to go to Berkeley to interview people and put a book together. That was the spring semester of 1999!

My original intent was to collect ALL of the published papers of Robert Karplus into one volume. I soon discovered that his research papers in physics alone would make a pretty large volume. Furthermore, his physics papers were, in general, published in well-known journals, easily accessible to physi­cists. On the other hand, his papers in education appeared in a wide variety of journals, many of which were not readily available in science libraries. Hence many of his articles were unknown to many physicists and physics educators.

vii

viii Preface

As I continued to interview his co-workers during the spring of 1999 it became increasingly difficult for me to figure out how to organize the publi­cations of Robert Karplus. I was drawn more and more to focus my attention on his contributions to science education. Finally, near the end of the semes­ter in a telephone conversation with Rita Peterson it clicked in my mind. She said that she remembered Bob's infectious love of discovery, not just for himself, but for others as well.

In addition, many of the common ideas used to discuss science educa­tion today were new in the 1960s and 70s and, to me, grew out of the work of Robert Karplus. Clearly it was time for a collection of his important papers to be made available to science educators in the 21st century.

So here it is, my collection of some of the important papers of Robert Karplus as well as a pretty complete list of all his publications in the Appendix.

This book would not have been possible without the wonderful cooper­ation of all the co-workers of Robert Karplus who freely gave their time and talents to help me. Thanks to the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley who gave me visiting scholar status and an office near the office of Alan Portis. My work in Berkeley in 1999 would not have been as productive without the help of Alan Portis, Elizabeth Karplus and Margaret Fuller.

Robert G. Fuller February, 2001

Contents

CHAPTER I-INTRODUCTION

By Robert G. Fuller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CHAPTER 2-A LOVE OF DISCOVERY

Introduction by Rita W. Peterson, Univ. Cal. Irvine 7

Karplus: A Scientist Who Shared His Love of Discovery ........ 7

Karplus: A Scientific Approach to Curriculum Development ..... 12

Robert Karplus: A Scientist's Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Conclusion ............................................ 19

Karplus, R, 1975, Strategies in Curriculum Development: The SCIS project, in Strategies for Curriculum Development, Jon Schaffarzick and David H. Hampton (Eds.), McCutchan Publishing Corp., Berkeley, CA, 69-88 . . . . . . . . .. 20

CHAPTER 3-EXCITING SCIENCE LESSONS

Introduction by Herbert D. Thier, Lawrence Hall of Science 33

Karplus, R, Thier, H. D., and Powell, C. A., 1963, A Concept of Matter for the First Grade, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1,315-318 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 37

Karplus, R, 1963, Meet Mr. 0, Science and Children, 3, 19-23 42

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x Contents

CHAPTER 4-THE LEARNING CYCLE

Introduction by Anton E. Lawson, Ariz. State Univ. . . . . . . . . . . .. 51

Origins of the Learning Cycle in the SCIS Program ............ 53

Origins of the Learning Cycle in Biology Education . . . . . . . . . . .. 54

Changes in the Names of the Phases of the Learning Cycle ...... 56

The Learning Cycle in the Biological Science Curriculum Study Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Table 4.1 The BSCS Version of Learning Cycle Instruction: Teacher's Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Table 4.2 The BSCS Version of Learning Cycle Instruction: Student's Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 58

Current Status of the Learning Cycle ....................... 59

Table 4.3 Postulates of Modern Learning Cycle Theory (after Lawson, 1995) ................................... 60

Karplus, R, 1974, The Learning Cycle, SCIS Teacher's Handbook, Lawrence Hall of Science, 29-33 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 63

Karplus, R, 1974, Three Guidelines for Elementary School Science, SCIS Newsletter No. 20, Lawrence Hall of Science, Spring,2-3 .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 67

Karplus, R, 1977, Science Teaching and the Development of Reasoning, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 14(2),169-175 ...................................... 70

CHAPTER 5-STUDENT AUTONOMY AND TEACHER INPUT

Introduction by 1. Myron Atkin, Stanford Univ. ............... 77

Atkin,1. M., and Karplus, R, 1962, Discovery or Invention? The Science Teacher, 29(5), 45--47 ....................... 83

Karplus, R, 1981, Response by the Oersted Medalist: Autonomy and Input, American Journal of Physics, 49(9), 811-814. . . . . .. 90

CHAPTER 6-CENTRAL ROLE OF STUDENTS' REASONING

Introduction by Helen Adi Khoury, Northern Illinois Univ. ...... 97

Control of Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 99

Proportional Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 100

Contents xi

Probabilistic and Correlational Reasoning 100

Logical Reasoning 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 101

Karplus, Eo E, and Karplus, R, 1970, Intellectual Development Beyond Elementary School I: Deductive Logic, School Science and Mathematics, 70(5), 398-406 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 105

Karplus, R, and Peterson, R W, 1970, Intellectual Development Beyond Elementary School II: Ratio, A Survey, School Science and Mathematics, 70(9), 813-820 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 112

Karplus, R, and Karplus, Eo E, 1972, Intellectual Development Beyond Elementary School III-Ratio: A Longitudinal Study, School Science and Mathematics, 72(8),735-742 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 119

Karplus, Eo E, Karplus, R, and Wollman, W, 1974, Intellectual Development Beyond Elementary School IV: Ratio, The Influence of Cognitive Style, School Science and Mathematics, 74(10), 476-482 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 126

Wollman, W, and Karplus, R, 1974, Intellectual Development Beyond Elementary School V: Using Ratio in Differing Tasks, School Science and Mathematics, 74(11), 593-613 0 0 0 0 0 0 132

Karplus, R, Karpluso Eo E, Formisano, Mo, and Paulsen, A-C., 1977, A Survey of Proportional Reasoning and Control of Variables in Seven Countries, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 14(5), 411-417 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 149

Adi, Ho, Karplus, R, Lawson, A Eo, and Pulos, So, 1978, Intellectual Development Beyond Elementary School VI: Correlational Reasoning, School Science and Mathematics, 78(8), 675-683 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 157

Kurtz, B., and Karplus, R, 1979, Intellectual Development Beyond Elementary School VII: Teaching for Proportional Reasoning, School Science and Mathematics, 79(5), 387-398 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 165

Karplus, R, Adi, Ho, and Lawson, A Eo, 1980, Intellectual Development Beyond Elementary School VIII: Proportional, Probabilistic, and Correlational Reasoning, School Science and Mathematics, 80(8), 673-678 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 175

Adi, Ho, Karplus, R, and Lawson, A Eo, 1980, Conditional Logic Abilities on the Four-Card Problem: Assessment of Behavioral and Reasoning Performances, Educational Studies in Mathematics, 11, 479-496 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 185

xii Contents

CHAPTER 7-TEACHING AND THE CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE OF PHYSICS

Introduction by Robert G. Fuller, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln. . . .. 201

Karplus, R, 1966, Conceptual Structure and Physics Teaching, American Journal of Physics, 34, 733 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 203

Arons, A. B., and Karplus, R, 1976, Implications of Accumulating Data on Levels of Intellectual Development, American Journal of Physics, 44, 396 ................................... 204

Fuller, R G., Karplus, R, and Lawson, A. E., 1977, Can Physics Develop Reasoning?, Physics Today, 30(2), 23-28. . . . . . . . . .. 206

Karplus, R, 1981, Educational Aspects of the Structure of Physics, American Journal of Physics, 49, 238-241 . . . . . . . . . .. 219

American Association of Physics Teachers 1980 Oersted Medalist: Robert Karplus ............................. 226

CHAPTER 8-SCIENTIFIC LITERACY AND THE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT GAP: KARPLUS' CHALLENGE

Introduction by Jane Bowyer, Mills College .................. 229

Overview ............................................. 229

A Personal Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 230

Teacher Development Challenges .......................... 230

Karplus' Contributions to Teacher-Development .............. 234

Conclusions ........................................... 235

Bowyer, I, and Karplus, R, 1978, Inservice Staff Development: A Piagetian Model, California Journal of Teacher Education, 5(3),48-54 .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 236

Karplus, R, 1975, Piaget in a Nutshell, Workshop on Physics Teaching and the Development of Reasoning, American Association of Physics Teachers, 2-2 to 2-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 241

CHAPTER 9-THE SCIENTIST'S SCIENCE EDUCATOR: HOW ONE YOUNG PHYSICISTS' LIFE WAS CHANGED BY THE EXAMPLE OF ROBERT KARPLUS

Introduction by Alan I Friedman, NY Hall of Science . . . . . . . . .. 247

Contents

Karplus, R, 1969, Chapter 1, The nature of science, sections 1.1-1.3, Introductory Physics: A Model Approach,

xiii

W. A. Benjamin, Inc., New York, 3-14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 253

Karplus, R, 1969, Chapter 3, The interaction concept, Introductory Physics: A Model Approach, W. A. Benjamin, Inc. New York, 55-76 ........................ 267

CHAPTER 10---THE FIRST CAREER OF ROBERT KARPLUS­THEORETICAL PHYSICS

By Robert G. Fuller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 293

CHAPTER ll-THE TRANSITION YEARS: WHAT A SHAME, WHAT A WASTE-TO GIVE ALL THAT UP TO WORK WITH CHILDREN AND TEACHERS

By Robert G. Fuller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 299

CHAPTER 12-THE SECOND CAREER-SCIENCE EDUCATION

By Robert G. Fuller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 303

APPENDICES

Contributors Biosketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 305

Karplus, R., 1977, Let's Look to the Future, The Physics Teacher, 71,126 ............................................ 311

Laetsch, W. M., 1977, Meet Your New AAPT President, The Physics Teacher, 70,126 ..................................... 314

Wichmann, E. H., Memorial to Robert Karplus, 1927-1990 ...... 317

Their, H. D., It Was a Great Time ... In Memoriam ... Let Us Continue, Robert Karplus, 1927-1990 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 320

Chew, G. F., 1992, Obituaries Robert Karplus, Physics Today, 45(3), 80. .......................................... 324

R Karplus, Professional Resume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 326

INDEX .................................................. 331

Contributors

Robert G. Fuller, Professor of Physics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Lincoln, Nebraska

Rita W. Peterson, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of California­Irvine, Department of Education, Irvine, California

Herbert D. Thier, Academic Administrator Emeritus, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, California

Anton E. Lawson, Professor of Biology, Arizona State University, Department of Biology, Tempe, Arizona

1. Myron Atkin, Professor of Education, Stanford University, School of Edu­cation, Stanford, California

Helen Adi Khoury, Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, Northern Illinois University, Department of Mathematical Sciences, DeKalb, Illinois

Jane Bowyer, Abbie Valley Professor of Education, Mills College, Education Department, Oakland, California

Alan Friedman, Director, New York Hall of Science, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, New York

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A Love of Discovery Science Education

The Second Career of Robert Karplus