Abstract:
The Pasteur-Pouchet controversy about spontaneous generation is presented as an interesting story from the History of Science to learn about the Nature of Science (NOS). The aim is to use this controversy for addressing some NOS issues in science education from an explicit and reflective approach. The didactic proposal is focused on the pre-service Secondary Education science teachers training in NOS and its teaching. Attention is given to both epistemic and non-epistemic aspects in the text of the controversy and the NOS questions asked. In addition, finally some methodological recommendations for implementing and assessing the didactic proposal in science classroom are offered. This involves the following: (1) in small groups, the students read the controversy and respond to some questions on NOS; (2) they present their responses to the whole class; and (3) they revise their initial responses in light of the whole-class discussion.
Keywords:
History of science; Nature of science; Teacher training; Pasteur; Pouchet; Spontaneous generation
