TOK and Internationalism in the Science Classroom

John Green

Li Po Chun UWC

Ideally TOK teachersand

TOK lessons should not exist!

What is TOK about?

• What does it mean to “know” something?

• How do we get knowledge?

• How certain are we of this knowledge?

• How do factors relating to ourselves cause

our knowledge to differ from that of others?

The TOK Diagram

Skills based subjects

Some subjects seem to be more skills based. The content is not vital as the skills learnt can be applied to a wide range of material. These subjects seem to almost necessarily include a high proportion of TOK concepts

Literature, History, Fine arts

Content based subjects

Other subjects concentrate more on acquiring new ideas and memorising new material. In these, perhaps because of time pressure, it requires a more conscious effort to address TOK issues

Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Language

Clarifying a few ideas

Believing and Knowing• Is it all to do with shared evidence?

The concept of Truth• Is there such a thing as “absolute truth”?• If so can we ever know it?• If we cannot is it a useful concept?

The gods did not reveal, from the beginning

All things to us, but in the course of time

Through seeking we may learn and know things better,

But as for certain truth, no man hath known it,

Nor shall he know it, neither of the gods

Nor yet of all the things of which I speak,

For even if by chance he were to utter

The final truth, he would himself not know it:

For all is but a woven web of guesses Xenophanes

(translated by KarlPopper)

Xenophanes

How do we get knowledge?

Empiricism We observe the world around us and

remember our experiences

Rationalism

We apply logical thought processes Mysticism

We experience inner feelings about the world

How do we get knowledge?

Authority In practice we get most of our knowledge

because we accept what somebody else tells us as being true

Revelation A subset of authority, when we believe the

source of the knowledge speaks on behalf of God

Why do we decide to accept something as true?

CorrespondenceIt fits in with what we observe

“The colour of this text is blue”

CoherenceIt fits in with other things we accept as true“Your spouse was driving you car at 140 kph” but“The car is so old it cannot go more than 100 kph”

Problems of perception

Imprecise perception

Sitting next to the air-con in the theatre

Mistaken interpretation

Is it a star a planet or a plane?

What is the image on the right?

Problems of perception

Inappropriate filtering

With the flowers coming into bloom and the birds singing it is wonderful to be in Paris in the the Springtime

Forms of Logic

Deductive Logic

Applies generalisations to a particular case

“TOK teachers hate marking essays, so John had an unhappy time when he received 40 essays just before the end of term”

Forms of Logic

Inductive LogicDraws generalisations from observations of specific cases

“Copper(II) nitrate is blue, copper ethanoate is blue, copper(II) sulphate is blue. Perhaps all copper(II) compounds are blue?”

TOK and Science

More specifically, what TOK ideas apply to the teaching of science?

What does Science try to do?

Elucidate a coherent law/system of laws that governs the universe ?

This presupposes:• This is comprehensible to humans.• Cause and effect?• No variation with time?• Such a law/system of laws exists.

But surely this is doomed to failure?

How would we ever know that it was the final truth; that we had reached the end of our quest for knowledge?

Remember Xenophanes!

So is Science different?

Don’t all fields of knowledge try to explain life, the universe and everything?

• History - how and why humans have acted• Literature - how it feels to be in a particular situation• The Arts - alternative interpretations• Religion - maybe the next universe as well!• Maths - a possible exception?

Does it create its own universe?

Surely it is!

Doesn’t Science

• Prove things true?• Help us to understand how the world works?• Enable us to predict accurately?• Test things through experiments?

What is truth, what is heat?

What is heat?

Certainty?

Is it true now?

Was it true then?

How can we know if something is true? (i.e. certain for ever)

If absolute truth is not possible to achieve, is it a useful concept?

Prove things are true?

Think of theories of the past - caloric, phlogiston, spontaneous creation etc.

Maybe only religion can offer us truth and certainty in that sense?

Understand the World?

What do we mean by “understand”?

Do we simply draw analogies between things we find difficult to visualise and those we find easier to visualise?

Most of science is concerned with models or paradigms

Models in Science

What purpose do we use models for – if they are fit for the purpose is this a problem?e.g. electrons being like planets orbiting the nucleus sun?

Do we sometimes confuse models with Mnemonics? Does Le Chatelier’s principle really help us understand equilibrium better?

Models in Science

Above all we must be careful not to confuse models and reality – do we know what atoms are “really” like?

“The map is not the territory”

Alford Korzybski

Enable us to predict accurately?

100 million years ago could the theory of evolution have predicted that humans would evolve?

Doesn’t studying History allow us to predict the future by studying the past?

Doesn’t studying Romeo and Juliet allow us to predict that bad consequences result from feuds?

Test things through experiments?

How can you experiment in Astrophysics, or Palaeontology?

Experiment occurs in almost all fields? Music Drama Microeconomics

and Macroeconomics?

Traditional Scientific Methodology

Probably originally attributable to Aristotle

Traditional Scientific Methodology

Revived in the Renaissance by Francis Bacon

Traditional Scientific Methodology

Observe

Hypothesise

Experiment

Evaluate

Traditional Scientific Methodology

Traditional Scientific Methodology

But is this how Science really works?

• Do we ever function as neutral observers?

• Do we really do experiments to prove a theory is right?

• How often must a hypothesis be proved right before it becomes a law?

Twentieth century thoughts

Karl Popper

We can never prove a law right, we can only prove it wrong

Science must make testable predictions

Twentieth century thoughts

“Our belief in any particular natural law cannot have a safer basis than our unsuccessful critical attempts to refute it.”

Karl Popper

Twentieth century thoughts

Thomas Kuhn

Science advances by means of slow progress, then sudden leaps forward called “Paradigm Shifts”

The Periodic Table as an example

John Dalton’sAtomic Theory

A Paradigm shift! ~1800

– All matter is composed of atoms– There are different types of atoms

with different masses– Atoms can combine together in

small whole numbers

The Periodic Table as an example

Döbreiner’s triads1817

The element that has an atomic mass

that is the mean of two others

has similar chemical properties

The Periodic Table as an example

The Periodic Table as an example

1864 Newland’s Octaves

If the elements are placed in order of

increasing atomic mass,

every eighth element has similar properties

The Periodic Table as an example

The Periodic Table as an example

1869 Dmitry Mendeleev

Testable predictions!

Arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic mass, but found that in order to obtain periodicity, gaps had to be left. He predicted that new elements would be discovered to fill these

Mendeleev’s Periodic Table

The coloured squares show the gaps that Mendeleev predicted would be filled by new elements

Mendeleev’s Predictions

The Periodic Table today

Extended to new areas, e.g. the electronic structure of atoms

This is something that science often achieves, unifying ideas - similar to Newton using gravity to explain things falling and planetary motion

TOK encourages students to reflect on questions such as these:(From an official IB presentation)

“Is the scientific method a product unique to Western culture, or is it universal?”

and maybe

“Do all cultures pursue science for the same reasons?”

Which science topics might show differences in cultural values?

Environmental issues• Global warming• Whaling

Challenging accepted values• Cloning• Evolution

Internationalism in Science

Be aware of the different nationalities of people who have contributed to your field of science and deliberately introduce these.

Know what technological advances have been made in different cultures and make students aware of this.

In the past other civilisations were progressing much more rapidly than the West.

Nowadays how many published scientific papers have only workers from one culture?