Ellen Raphael from the charity Sense About Science explains why peer review is so important in science, and describes how an existing guide is being adapted to meet the needs of science teachers.
Image courtesy of Sense about
Science
Changes in the English national science curriculum will allow more time than ever before for exploring the inner workings of the scientific method (see Burden, 2007). How scientific ideas are presented, evaluated and disseminated is now a core requirement for key stage 4 students (ages 14-16). At Sense About Science, a charity to promote good science and evidence in public debates, we welcome this emphasis. Students need to discover early in their education what science is, if they are to handle data and evidence maturely and with discrimination, and gain their first insights into mastering a subject rather than being mastered by it.
This is important not just for understanding the scientific method but also for helping students to negotiate the world outside school. We need students to understand that the scientific knowledge we now regard as established fact – such as the Earth revolving around the Sun – is actually the result of many years of academic argument and gathering of evidence. In this way, students can be encouraged to consider new research critically, to consider its evidence base, and not simply to believe new theories because they appear to make sense. At the moment, there are few resources available for teachers to work out how scientific information is evaluated and added to the ongoing body of knowledge.
In 2005, Sense About Science published I don’t know what to believe…,a short guide to peer revieww1. It has been hugely popular with over 60,000 copies disseminated worldwide. The guide aims to help people understand the journey that scientific ideas undertake before they tentatively join the body of scientific knowledge and other researchers can begin to repeat them. The guide also highlights the difference between published and unpublished research, helping people to determine whether the research claims they read in newspapers or on the Internet come from scientific journals or from scientists who have chosen not to subject their work to the critical scrutiny of their peers.
Image courtesy of Sense about
Science
The guide was developed through workshops with a range of groups, including secondary-school teachers and their students. It was very helpful to hear the teachers’ and students’ perspectives on the guide from the beginning, to find out what information they found useful and what they regarded as superfluous. It also confirmed our belief that very few students know what peer review is, how it relates to science, and how it can help them to evaluate new scientific ideas and research claims.
The first time that most students learn about the system is when they study a science subject at university, which means that those who do not continue with science will probably never know the role that peer review plays in the advancement of science. Following the guide’s release, we received many requests for its use in the classroom. These requests came from primary- and secondary-school teachers, and others involved in science education.
We have always been keen to develop a resource specifically for schools on peer review and the acceptance of new scientific ideas. It was decided, therefore, that rather than providing schools only with I don’t know what to believe…, we would begin to build a full education resource, with a web resource centre, where teachers and students alike could access further information about peer review, scientific knowledge and evidence. The resource is now under development with a planned completion date in summer 2007.
There have been many arguments lately that the new science curriculum dumbs down science and can be more appropriately termed the ‘sociology of science’. There are also concerns that the curriculum does not require consideration of how science is regulated both internally and externally.
We hope that our resource will go some way towards illuminating the regulation of science by scientists through peer review. However, it is worth highlighting what the new curriculum does well. For the first time students are being encouraged to consider what scientific evidence is, where scientific ideas come from, and the impact that they might have on society. The curriculum allows us to look deeper into what makes science science.
Although we must fight to retain the practical aspects of science education and the teaching of a broad scientific knowledge base, discussion about the applications of science and the ethical and societal implications should not be seen as detrimental or as the ‘easy’ option. Providing future scientists and consumers with a true understanding of the scientific method, its theory and practice, and how ideas and evidence are generated, should produce individuals who are well able to hold their own and stand up for science, particularly in controversial areas where it is not easy to see the path ahead.
References
Web References
- w1 – I don’t know what to believe… is freely available from the Sense About Science website.
- Hard copies can also can also be requested from this page. There is a small charge for sending print copies outside the UK, to cover postal costs.
Resources
- For other useful education materials about peer review, see:
Review
Even if the topic is not as exciting as the most recent discoveries in cutting-edge research, this article is relevant for secondary-school teachers and students in science education. In fact, the focus on peer review, in addition to the usual sequence of ‘observation, hypothesis, experiment, theory’, is necessary for a correct epistemological approach to what makes science science.
For these reasons, Ellen Raphael’s clear and concise article is suitable for teachers interested in updating their knowledge and for students motivated to deepen their study of the scientific method. Moreover, the invitation from Sense About Science to test the didactical materials (printed guide and related website) is also a good opportunity for teachers interested in the societal impact and perception of science. The full article could be used for classroom activities or read by students interested in the topic.
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