Darwin-Inspired Learning

Charles Darwin has been extensively analysed and written about as a scientist, Victorian, father and husband. However, this is the first book to present a carefully thought out pedagogical approach to learning that is centered on Darwin?s life and scientific practice. The ways in which Darwin developed his scientific ideas, and their far reaching effects, continue to challenge and provoke contemporary teachers and learners, inspiring them to consider both how scientists work and how individual humans?read nature?. Darwin-inspired learning, as proposed in this international collection of essays, is an enquiry-based pedagogy, that takes the professional practice of Charles Darwin as its source. Without seeking to idealise the man, Darwin-inspired learning places importance on:? active learning? hands-on enquiry? critical thinking? creativity? argumentation? interdisciplinarity. In an increasingly urbanised world, first-hand observations of living plants and animals are becoming rarer. Indeed, some commentators suggest that such encounters are under threat and children are living in a time of?nature-deficit?. Darwin-inspired learning, with its focus on close observation and hands-on enquiry, seeks to re-engage children and young people with the living world through critical and creative thinking modeled on Darwin?s life and science.;TABLE OF CONTENTS; FOREWORD; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; OPEN WINDOW; INTRODUCTION:Darwin-Inspired Learning; DARWIN'S HERITAGE; DEVELOPING A SENSE OF PLACE; THE IMPORTANCE OF ACTIVE HANDS-ON ENQUIRY; CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT WHAT AND HOW WE KNOW; INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES; DEVELOPING WORK WITH LEARNERS; EPILOGUE; REFERENCES; DARWIN'S HERITAGE; 1. ENTERING DARWIN'S LIFE; INTRODUCTION; SCHOOLBOY -- EXPLORING AND EXPLOSIONS; UNIVERSITY -- FIELD TRIPS WITH EXPERTS; THE BEAGLE VOYAGE; LONDON AND SPECIES THEORY; DOWNE 1 -- A PLACE TO WORK; BARNACLES; EXPERIMENTS; DARWIN-INSPIRED LEARNING. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction (2014)....Pages 1-11 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 Entering Darwin’s Life....Pages 15-23 The World of Downe....Pages 25-34 ‘Pester Them with Letters’: Using Darwin’s Correspondence in the Classroom....Pages 35-44 Front Matter....Pages 45-45 Learning in Cultivated Gardens and Other Outdoor Landscapes....Pages 47-58 Learning to Read Nature to Understand the Natural World and How it Works....Pages 59-72 Walking with Darwin in Rio De Janeiro....Pages 73-87 Getting the Kids Involved – Darwin’s Paternal Example....Pages 89-105 Using Collections of Darwiniana in Darwin-Inspired Learning....Pages 107-113 Front Matter....Pages 115-115 Object Lessons in Evidence-Based Learning....Pages 117-129 Sailing the Backyard Beagle ....Pages 131-146 Naming the Living World....Pages 147-163 Scientific Enquiry....Pages 165-175 Using Darwin to Teach Earth Science....Pages 177-196 Front Matter....Pages 197-197 Darwin the Scientist....Pages 199-210 Teaching Evolution in Schools....Pages 211-219 The ‘Attentive and Reflective Observer’....Pages 221-235 Darwinian Case Studies within a Post-16 Programme for the History and Philosophy of Science....Pages 237-242 They Really Do Eat Insects....Pages 243-256 DNA Barcoding Darwin’s Meadow....Pages 257-270 Front Matter....Pages 271-271 Darwin’s Barnacles....Pages 273-284 Darwin-Inspired Drama....Pages 285-298 Evolutionary Narratives....Pages 299-309 Darwin in Natural Science School Textbooks in the Nineteenth Century in England and Spain....Pages 311-324 Front Matter....Pages 325-325 Writing and Representing to Learn in Science....Pages 327-338 Routes to Conceptual Change in Teaching and Learning About Evolution....Pages 339-351 Developing a Model for Post-16 Teaching and Learning....Pages 353-365 Transformation of the School Grounds for Darwin-Inspired Learning....Pages 367-381 Transition....Pages 383-397 Staging Darwin’s Science through Biographical Narratives....Pages 399-410 Epilogue....Pages 411-424 Back Matter....Pages 425-435 Charles Darwin has been extensively analysed and written about as a scientist, Victorian, father and husband. However, this is the first book to present a carefully thought out pedagogical approach to learning that is centered on Darwin’s life and scientific practice. The ways in which Darwin developed his scientific ideas, and their far reaching effects, continue to challenge and provoke contemporary teachers and learners, inspiring them to consider both how scientists work and how individual humans ‘read nature’. Darwin-inspired learning, as proposed in this international collection of essays, is an enquiry-based pedagogy, that takes the professional practice of Charles Darwin as its source. Without seeking to idealise the man, Darwin-inspired learning places importance on: • active learning • hands-on enquiry • critical thinking • creativity • argumentation • interdisciplinarity. In an increasingly urbanised world, first-hand observations of living plants and animals are becoming rarer. Indeed, some commentators suggest that such encounters are under threat and children are living in a time of ‘nature-deficit’. Darwin-inspired learning, with its focus on close observation and hands-on enquiry, seeks to re-engage children and young people with the living world through critical and creative thinking modeled on Darwin’s life and science.