Constructing Worlds through Science Education: The Selected Works of John K. Gilbert(World Library of Educationalists)

This book demonstrates how representations of the Victorian suburb in mid- to late-nineteenth century British writing occasioned a literary sub-genre unique to this period, one that attempted to reassure readers that the suburb was a place where outsiders could be controlled and where middle-class values could be enforced. Whelan explores the dissonance created by the differences between the suburban ideal and suburban realities, recognizing the persistence of that ideal in the face of abundant evidence that it was hardly ever realized. She discusses evidence from primary and secondary sources about perceptions and realities of suburban living, showing what it meant to live in a "real" Victorian suburb. The book also demonstrates how the suburban ideal (with its elements of privacy, cleanliness, rus in urbe, and respectability), in its relation to culturally embedded ideas about the Beautiful and Picturesque, gained such a strong foothold in the Victorian middle class that contemplating its failure caused intense anxiety. Whelan goes on to trace the ways in which this anxiety is represented in literature.

Table of Contents:
Section A: Explanation, Models, Modeling in Science Education 1. Horses for Courses? 2. History and Philosophy of Science through Models: The Case of Chemical Kinetics 3. A Cause of Ahistorical Science Teaching: Use of Hybrid Models 4. Epistemological Resources for Thought Experimentation in Science Education 5. Modelling, Teachers’ Views on the Nature of Modelling and Implications for the Education of Modellers Section B: Relating Science Education and Technology Education 6. The Interface Between Science Education and Technology Education 7. Positioning Models in Science Education and in Design and Technology Education 8. Modelling: Promoting Creativity whilst Forging Links Between Science Education and Design and Technology Education 9. Research and Development on Satellites in Education Section C: Informal Education in Science and Technology 10. Informal Chemical Education 11. The Design of Interactive Exhibits to Promote the Making of Meaning 12. Models and Discourse: A Primary Science Visit to a Museum Section D: Alternative Conceptions and Science Education 13. Eliciting Students’ Views Using an Interview - About - Instances Technique 14. Concepts, Misconceptions and Alternative Conceptions: Changing Perspectives in Science Education 15. Children’s Science and its Consequences for Teaching 16. Constructive Science Education