DRAMA FOR INCLUSION IN SCIENCE

Year 2016, Volume: 4 , 109 - 116, 01.09.2016

John Oversby

Abstract

Role plays, using given roles or
simulated and improvised enactments, are claimed to improve learning of
concepts, understanding the nature of science and appreciation of science's
relationship with society (Ødegaard, 2001). Historical events often provide
well-established examples of scientific discoveries, with the process of the
discovery described and justified in fine detail. Adjacent to each discovery,
we can find other investigations and outcomes, to set each one in scientific
context. This enables researchers and teachers to construct the web of
scientific advance at that time. In addition, each event takes place in a
social context, often in the midst of political and social revolutions.
However, these are rarely advertised in the journal accounts, which mostly
focus on pure scientific aspects. Unearthing this complex interplay between the
science, the nature of science itself which was developing throughout history,
the social environment, is not straightforward for busy classroom teachers. The
paper also notes that accounts feature the celebrities, and not the
contributions of others such artisans, whose work was crucial to each and every
discovery. This paper aims to document a particular Case Study involving
explorations of the chemical properties of water-soluble gases, in Lavoisier’s
laboratory in the 1770s. The carpenter and a stonemason, provide the Lavoisiers
with a pneumatic trough, containing mercury, in which to manipulate the gases.
To promote social justice, it uses dramatic licence to give them a voice.

 

Ødegaard M 2001, Unpublished Dr.
scient., Dissertation, University of Oslo. 

Keywords

nature of science, history of science, drama, social justice

References

• Braund M (2015) Drama and learning science: an empty space? British Journal for Educational Research Volume 41, Issue 1, p 102–121 Brook 1968, The empty space, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books Hendrix R, Eick C & Shannon D (2012) The Integration of Creative Drama in an Inquiry-Based Elementary Program: The Effect on Student Attitude and Conceptual Learning Journal Science Teacher Education 23:823–846 Ødegaard M 2001, Unpublished Dr. scient., Dissertation, University of Oslo.