The view that knowledge cannot be transmitted but must be constructed by the mental activity of learners underpins contemporary perspectives on science education. This article, which presents a theoretical perspective on teaching and learning science in the social setting of classrooms, is informed by a view of scientific knowledge as socially constructed and by a perspective on the learning of science as knowledge construction involving both individual and social processes. First, we present an overview of the nature of scientific knowledge. We then describe two major traditions in explaining the process of learning science: personal and social constructivism. Finally, we illustrate how both personal and social perspectives on learning, as well as perspectives on the nature of the scientific knowledge to be learned, are necessary in interpreting science learning in formal settings.

Excerpt: In the first part of the paper we consider the evidence base upon which claims about the effectiveness of teaching sequences are made. We argue that researchers tend to attribute improvements in students’ learning to the effectiveness of the sequence of teaching activities, giving little explicit attention to the teacher’s role in staging those teaching activities, in the social context of the classroom. In the second part of the paper we present a social constructivist perspective on learning, which we use as a basis for identifying the essential elements which constitute a teaching sequence. The concept of learning demand is then introduced and developed as a tool for informing the design of teaching sequences. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the similarities and differences between this approach and other research into the design and evaluation of teaching sequences.