History of Ideas in Science

Code:

EC/DC4002

Acronym:

EC/DC4002

Level:

400

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Science Teaching/Science Divulgation

Instance: 2024/2025 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Science Education Unit
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Science Education and Communication

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
M:EDC	8	Official Study Plan 2024/2025	1	-	6	42	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

It is intended that at the end of this course students will know some key topics in the history of Ideias in Science and will be able to use them in teaching and dissemination activities.

Learning outcomes and competences

1 – To understand that science reflects its history and that it is an ever-changing venture.
2 – To interpret some relevant events that occurred throughout the History of Ideias in Science and that still influence Science teaching and dissemination.
3 – To integrate important facts of the History of Ideias in Science in the contemporaneity.
4 – To know some "problems of science’, especially in the areas of Astronomy, Biology, Computer Science, Geology, Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry.

Working method

Presencial

Program

- General considerations about the origins of Astronomy and Cosmology

- Notes on the evolution of knowledge in Astronomy

- Astronomy before and after Galileo

- Some relevant milestones in the history of Biology

- Biology in the 20^th and 21^th centuries

- The pre-history of Computing

- The origin of Computer Science

- Ideas that shaped the information society

- Considerations on the history of Physics and about the Scientific Method

- Notes on the evolution of knowledge in Physics

- Physics in the 20^th and 21^th centuries

- Some relevant milestones in the history of Geology

- Notes on the epistemology of Geology

- Ideas of Geology in teaching and science dissemination contexts

- Elementary Math

- The evolution of accuracy in Math

- Math as a cultural phenomenon

- Some relevant milestones in the history of Chemistry

- Notes on the epistemology of Chemistry

- Ideas of Chemistry in teaching and science dissemination contexts

Mandatory literature

R. Hoffmand, C. Djerassi; Oxigénio, Editora UP, Porto, 2005. ISBN: ISBN: 972–8025–42-4
Katz Victor J.; A history of mathematics. ISBN: 0-673-38039-4
Estrada Maria Fernanda; História da matemática. ISBN: 972-674-315-X
J. D. Partington; A Short History of Chemistry, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1989. ISBN: ISBN 0-486-65977-1
Bertolami Orfeu; O Livro das Escolhas Cósmicas, Gradiva, 2006
Weinberg Steven; To Explain the World, Allen Lane, 2015
Smith Alan G.R.; A Revolução Científica , Editorial Verbo, 1972
Bertolami Orfeu, Couto Helena et al.; Do Big Bang ao Homem, U. Porto Edições, 2015

Teaching methods and learning activities

The classes on the various topics favor the dialogue and interaction among students, as well as the access to relevant information in the area of the history of ideas in science. The class approaches are not sistematically deepened but the supplied bibliography will allow for further study, according to each student's profile and interest.

20 feb
Tiago Ribeiro (Geo) (13:30h - 15:10h) + 10-minute break + Cecília Guerra (Bio) (15:20h – 17:00h)

27 feb
João Paiva (Q) (13:30h - 15:10h) + 10-minute break + José Luís Santos (F) (15:20h – 17:00h)

6 mar
José Carlos Santos (Mat) (13:30h - 15:10h) + 10-minute break + Sandra Alves (CC) (15:20 – 17:00h)

Modules

13 mar, 20 mar, 27 mar, 3 apr, 10 apr, 24 apr, 15 may, 22 may (13:30h – 17:00h with a 10-minute break)

Modules Mat (8 with José Carlos Santos)
Modules FQ (4 with José Luís Santos and 4 with João Paiva, Cidália André, Manuel Santos and guests)
Modules BG (4 with Tiago Ribeiro and 4 with Cecília Guerra)

Students will be invited to complete two written assignments, which will have to be presented and discussed orally. The written assignments must address distinct themes (for students in the master programs in Physics and Chemistry teaching or in Biology and Geology teaching). Students engaged in the master program in mathematics teaching must complete their assignments addressing the themes in mathematics only.

The first assignment is of biographial nature; the second one focuses on a topic of the history of ideas in science. Both assignments have a page limit (including cover, index, and references): 10 pages for the first assignment and 20 pages for the second one.

 

Oral presentation of the final assignment
29 may 2025
oral presentations in 3 different classrooms, at the same time (8-minute presentation by each student)
- BG with Cecília Guerra and Tiago Ribeiro (classroom to be assigned)
- FQ with João Paiva and José Luís Santos (classroom to be assigned)
- M with Rosa Antónia Ferreira and José Carlos Santos (usual classroom: FC1 1.07)



Some sinergies of contexts in the university of Porto and the city itself may be possible, by making some classes coincide with open conferences to the whole community.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	64,00
Frequência das aulas	42,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	6,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Frequency is obtained by the approval in all written assignments and respective oral presentations and discussions, and attendance of at least half of the classes.

Calculation formula of final grade

The classification will result from the average of the classification attributed to each assignment (taking into account the written component and the oral component).

The assignment of shorter dimension (written component and oral presentation and discussion component) will have a weight of 30% of the final grade. This assignment addresses the biography of a scientist. The assignment with a larger dimension is focused on a topic of the history of ideas in science.

The contribution of the oral component of each assignment to its final classification lies between 40% and 60% 

The classification of the written components focuses on parameters such as a) the organization of the text; b) clarity and correctness in writing; c) the correction, depth and foundation of ideas in the text.

The classification of oral presentations and discussions focuses on parameters such as a) the compliance with time; b) the fluidity, clarity and correctness of the speech; c) the capacity for synthesis; d) the quality of the support file of the presentation and of the discussion.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Student workers (SW)

Student workers must contact the teacher(s) of the scientific compoent(s) which they intend to choose in order to complete their assignments wo that arrangements may be made for periodic meetings and decision making regarding the topics of the assignmewnts and guidance towards the completion of those assignments.

Classification improvement

Given that this part of the UC follows the typology of distributed assessment without final exam 
(continuous assessment) and presents a very systemic nature, 
the grade improvement in this UC only can be carried out 
by repeating all the evaluation components throughout the semester and, as such, 
in the following academic year.

Observations

Bibliography
Bernardette Bensaude-Vincent & Isabelle Stengers (1992). História da química. Lisboa : Instituto Piaget.
Bertolami, O. (2006). O livro das escolhas cósmicas. Lisboa: Gradiva.
Bertolami, O., & Couto, H. (Eds.) (2016). Do Big Bang ao Homem. Porto: Edições UP. Doxiadis, A., & Papadimitrou, C. (2009). Logicomix: an epic search for truth. New York: Bloomsbury.
Carvalho, J. P. (2000). Uma odisseia no tempo - Introdução à história da astronomia. Porto: Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto.
Katz, V. J. (2008). A History of mathematics (3rd ed.). Edinburgh: Pearson.
Nagel, E., & Newman, J. R. (2001). Godel's proof. New York: New York University Press. Nappi, C. (2013). The Global and Beyond: Adventures in the Local Historiographies of Science. Isis, 104(1), 102-10.
Cotardière, P. (Ed.) (2015). História das ciências. Da antiguidade aos nossos dias: Vol. 3. Ciências da terra - Ciências da Vida. Lisboa: Edições texto & grafia.
Vasconcelos, C., Almeida, A. & Barros, A. (2013). Ensenãnza de la Deriva Continental: Epistemological and Historial contribuciones. Journal of Science Education, 14(1), 32-36.