Pronskikh Vitaly, Sorina Galina V
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL USA.
Philosophy Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
Sci Educ (Dordr). 2022;31(4):961-975. doi: 10.1007/s11191-021-00280-5. Epub 2021 Sep 17.
The history and philosophy of science (HPS) plays a special role in education. An elective HPS course on the philosophy of scientific experimentation for young scientists and graduate students of natural science is presented. The course bears a pragmatic character, and its main aims include the development of critical thinking (CT), familiarization with philosophical problems in the relevant areas of knowledge, and the cultivation of a taste for reflective, critical analysis, both individual and group based, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the features of scientific practice in the context of modern complex group cooperation. Students are offered a classical HPS program that included debates on the relationship between empiricism and rationalism, the role of Kant's transcendental philosophy, modern topics associated with the practical success of rationalism in the emergence of modern natural science, and the theory-ladenness of experimentation. Particular attention during the course is paid to the problems of megascience, the inclusion of which is justified by the specifics of the students' engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Emphasis is placed on the structure and typology of the collective subject in the modern educational process as well as in experimental practice. Lessons on the methodology of expert text analysis (META), which are aimed at the development of critical thinking skills and the creation of an interdisciplinary discussion space, are included in the course and relied on the example of the history and philosophy of high-energy physics to motivate professional reflection. META classes included in the course prepare graduate students for teamwork in big science, proto-megascience, and megascience. The course offers practical recommendations that could be applied to students' own research and could be useful for practitioners.
科学史与科学哲学(HPS)在教育中发挥着特殊作用。本文介绍了一门面向年轻科学家和自然科学研究生的关于科学实验哲学的选修HPS课程。该课程具有实用性,其主要目标包括培养批判性思维(CT)、使学生熟悉相关知识领域的哲学问题,以及培养个人和小组反思性批判性分析的能力,这有助于在现代复杂的团队合作背景下更深入地理解科学实践的特点。为学生提供了一个经典的HPS课程,其中包括关于经验主义与理性主义关系的辩论、康德先验哲学的作用、与理性主义在现代自然科学兴起中的实际成功相关的现代主题,以及实验的理论负载性。课程中特别关注大科学问题,鉴于学生参与科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)的特点,纳入这些内容是合理的。重点在于现代教育过程以及实验实践中集体主体的结构和类型。课程中还包括旨在培养批判性思维技能和创建跨学科讨论空间的专家文本分析方法(META)课程,并以高能物理学的历史和哲学为例激发专业反思。课程中的META课程为研究生在大科学、原大科学和大科学中的团队合作做好准备。该课程提供了一些实用建议,这些建议可应用于学生自己的研究,对从业者也可能有用。