Content learning and scientific reasoning

Colleagues who have devoted their time and energy at managing or performing scientific research and development often lament the lack of scientific tradition in Philippine society. Their grief is justified. The researcher population density in the Philippines is low, with only one researcher for every 8,000 Filipinos in 2005. Thailand and Indonesia, on the other hand, had one for every 2,500 in 2004 and 2001, respectively. Our country is not contributing its commensurate share of new scientific knowledge to the community of nations. Singapore, with only about 1/18 of our population but with one researcher for every 180, produced close to 16 times more publications in peer-reviewed (ISI-indexed) journals in 2007 and the productivity gap is widening. The scientific underperformance of the Philippines is undermining its capability to compete vigorously in a brave new globalized world that increasingly needs a flexible and highly skilled labor force.

Scientific research is aimed at generating new know­ledge that allows us to understand more accurately how Nature works. Scientists formulate hypotheses to explain and predict natural phenomena, but their explanations are mere conjectures until validated by experimental results. To prosper scientific research, scientists rely on significant advances in measurement techniques. The ability to observe Nature clearly down to her finest details or to unravel (ahead of others) her grand collective dance is the mark of a great scientist.

The invaluable sense to recognize a hidden pattern or an underlying harmony beneath a surface of seemingly unrelated physical events does not come naturally except to a few extraordinary geniuses like Albert Einstein or Paul Dirac. It is gained and honed through years of tutelage and experience in a nurturing environment and the best way is to start accumulating experiences at the earliest possible time.

Elementary school children need to develop an objective awareness of the physical world by teaching them the habit of recording every observation that they make of natural phenomena that occur in their surroundings. They will be asked to present their findings in class for constructive criticism by peers under the supervision of an instructor. As children move up to higher-grade levels, they receive more refined technical training that enables them to describe their observations with greater accuracy and precision.    

In practice, a scientist aims to publish his invention or discovery in a widely read peer-reviewed journal. This is not a straightforward task to accomplish. A diary of personal observations is a rudimentary version of a journal and the earlier that a person learns to gather, record and organize data in a concise manner, the more likely that he will turn out to be a successful scientist or researcher.

Current methods of teaching science in the elementary, high school or even college are aimed at maximizing the transmission of content knowledge. Their objective is to make students pass (written) examinations and the more talented are drilled even more in order to win national and international competitions. This overemphasis on content could inadvertently lead students to develop the misguided notion that science exists only in books and magazines.

Content learning does not necessarily improve scientific reasoning ability. Students who have acquired the skills to solve textbook problems are not necessarily better at formulating and testing hypotheses, recognizing the independent physical variables as well as observing and evaluating consequences. A study published by Bao, et al. in the journal Science in 2009 revealed that Chinese students with five years of physics in high school did not score any better in critical thinking evaluation than their US counterparts who had only a year (at most) of physics instruction.

Trying to understand Nature is unlike taking a final examination where quickness counts and lessons learned from incorrect answers do not. Nature does not yield its secrets easily and to succeed we need to be smart, motivated, creative, skillful and in many instances, lucky. But Nature is also kind — she allows us to learn from our previous inadequate attempts to understand her if we are patient and persistent enough.

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Caesar Saloma, Ph.D., is a professor of the National Institute of Physics and Dean of the College of Science, UP Diliman. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology and a recipient of the 2008 ASEAN Outstanding Scientist and Technologist Award from the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology and the 2004 Galileo Galilei Award from the International Commission for Optics. E-mail him at [email protected].