LAUSR

The postwar era produced novel pedagogical projects aimed at integrating history and science teaching. Above all, these were shaped by the pedagogy of James Bryant Conant, who placed history at the heart of general science education. While Conant’s expansive vision for history of science ultimately was not realized, its emphasis on experiential learning for nonscientists is worth revisiting for current integrative approaches to higher education. A team of two historians and one biologist has done this by developing a teaching model that infuses the humanities into two general science education courses through history lectures integrated with science labs. They assessed the model’s impact on learning outcomes, experiences, and attitudes toward science and history through a blind study of student participants. The results showed that courses taught using the model significantly improved experiences and attitudes toward science among students who were initially less friendly toward science and improved experiences and attitudes toward history among students who were initially less friendly toward history.