Philosophy of science

Sociology

Humanism

Pedagogy

Social science

Science education

Biology

Epistemology

Mathematics education

Engineering

Philosophy

Political science

Paleontology

Psychology

Nature of Science

Context (archaeology)

Graduation (instrument)

Social science education

Outline of social science

History of science

Engineering ethics

Science, technology, society and environment education

Mechanical engineering

Science Education

This article offers a retrospective synopsis of 70 years of development of a humanistic approach to science education. Instruction using the history of science, for example, provides a rich context for students to learn not only canonical science content on a need‐to‐know basis, but also content from the other domains of humanistic science education, including: the nature of science and scientists, cultural studies, and the multifarious interplay between science/scientists and society. The synopsis leads to the conclusion that instructional materials and student assessment tools developed earlier for teaching the history of science are relevant today. Science–technology–society–environment and socioscientific issues, two of the present six domains of humanistic school science, are given special attention. An example of their teaching materials is described, which illustrates in detail how to organize lessons or units particularly suited for the substantial majority of high school students who would not enroll in any current science classes if not required for graduation. Trends suggested for the future are based on shifts in current global economics.

Humanistic science education: The history of science and other relevant contexts