How We Teach Science

“Rudolph is…laser focused on the ‘how’ of the science classroom—how its practice varies across time, how its meaning is debated by reformers, and how its role in education shifts as schools themselves change. And for that discussion there is no better guide.”—Christopher J. Phillips, Science

“Rudolph’s excellent description of early science instruction is especially relevant today because we have not advanced much in this regard. We are frankly miserable at teaching science to students, even in the face of the most momentous technological achievements in human history… We must, as Rudolph encourages us, modify our errors in science education, emphasizing its absolute relevance to our existence.”—Jennifer Schnellmann, Times Higher Education

“An engaging narrative… Rudolph reminds the reader that how science is taught has important social consequences.”—Maria Kolovou, Science & Education

“Well researched and informative… Anyone interested in science education and public policy should find much of value… No program for reshaping science teaching should be attempted without a solid knowledge of what has gone before. For that knowledge, you are unlikely to find a better source than Rudolph’s book.”—Patrick Lufkin, Technical Communication

“Offers insight into science education’s gradual transition from the laboratory method of the late 19th century to the current Next Generation Science Standards… Importantly, Rudolph also examines how these methods have variously failed to contribute to scientific literacy and how educators and reformers might move forward in the future.”—Choice

“Scientific research has changed a great deal over the past century, but the ways that students have learned about science have changed even more dramatically. In this engaging and wide-ranging study, historian John Rudolph traces enormous pedagogical shifts, the aspirations behind them, and why they matter for scientists and citizens today.”—David Kaiser, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Why should we teach science? And how should we teach it? John Rudolph provides our first thorough history of the many ways that American educators have imagined—and instructed—science over the past century. At a moment when ‘STEM’ fields have become almost a fetish in American culture and education, I hope we can pause long enough to ask ourselves why. Nobody will be able to frame a good answer without first consulting this masterful book.”—Jonathan Zimmerman, University of Pennsylvania

“How We Teach Science is a provocative interrogation into the teaching of the scientific method. Weaving a tapestry of influences on policy and practice, John Rudolph delivers an insightful historical examination of the oscillating institutional goals for science education, highlighting social tensions surrounding teaching the natural sciences during the twentieth century.”—Richard Duschl, Southern Methodist University