Nonetheless if the idea of students being inspired to be interested in science by histories of role models is valid, then such stories need constant retelling, appropriately tailored for each different audience. For example, by searching the world-wide web, it is not difficult to find more than one hundred different books, written about Madame Curie it might thus be supposed that anything of consequence to be written about her life has already been said. It may be difficult to justify research into women’s contribution to science on the grounds that so many academics have addressed these issues. In the field of science textbooks, women writers occupy a more prominent position than in pure science and women have greatly influenced the format of the school science textbook and the methodologies used. This author has been interested in ‘the textbook’ for some ten years. Students, in the author’s experience, both male and female, certainly seem to believe this and the message from most of the books that they use tends to reinforce this view. The popular view is that the answer to the question is that women have made little contribution to science.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |