Contributions of history and philosophy of science to teachers education in biological sciences

Abstract

In this paper we will try to summarize some of the reasons why we believe it is necessary
that the historical development and philosophical assumptions of scientific disciplines in
general, and for the biological sciences in particular, be explicitly addressed in the training of
science teachers.
In the first place, when scientific content is transmitted, a certain image is taught about
science, what it is and how it is produced. For example, there are certain appreciations that
are not usually thematized about the role of value judgments, or what distinguishes scientific
explanations from those provided in other contexts.
Second, attending to the history of science is useful because theoretical changes provideclues to possible epistemological obstacles that students may encounter.
Third, attending to scientific controversies in their historical context, noting what questions
scientists were asking, why they were relevant, what they knew and could not know, and what
their experiments showed in terms of the assumptions of the time, serves to highlight
methodological aspects of science, especially reasoning and the generation of hypotheses
based on evidence.
Finally, the conceptual analyses provided by philosophy serve to clarify the specific
methodological, theoretical and explanatory characteristics of the sciences, in addition to
highlighting the purely conceptual character of scientific activity, evidencing the difficulties in
specifying and deciding the definitions of technical terms.