Abstract

CASTRO MORENO, Julio Alejandro. Practical knowledge, history, philosophy and biology teaching: the case of biological heredity. Rev. Fac. Cienc. Tecnol. [online]. 2013, n.34, pp.103-125. ISSN 0121-3814.

This paper remarks that practical knowledge is relevant to science and science's teaching. First, it is said that scientific knowledge is to be understood not only as theoretical but it is also practical in nature. Second, the authors present several types of scientific practices that have been implemented through history to the configuration of heredity as a scientific problem. These practices are: historical or narrative (represented mainly by the construction of medical records and pedigrees); experimental (especially plant hybridization); statistical (mainly in regard to some techniques such as regression and reversion, as well as elaboration of probabilistic arguments); geometric (such as those involved in the development of Punnett squares and chromosome maps); modeling (for example those involving the construction of models such as the DNA and the Lac operon); and laboratory practices (which are specifically involved in maintenance and breeding of various mutant strains of the fruit fly D. melanogaster). In this way, it is suggested to ask: to what extent this kind of knowledge could become procedure contents for teaching biology, especially in teacher training processes of this science? In conclusion, we propose that it is necessary to establish relations between history, philosophy and science education, where the focus of reflection is to understand and appreciate the practical nature of biological knowledge, and highlight the importance of procedural content in teaching this scientific knowledge.

Keywords : scientific practices; practical knowledge; biological heredity; procedural contents for biology teaching.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )