About | How Science Works

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The Story Behind the Science

Bring Science and Scientists to Life

About the How Science Works Project

The Story Behind the Science website is the result of multiple projects coming together with one central purpose: to provide deeply researched, engaging stories of major science topics that explicitly highlight how science works, how scientists think, and the often messy process that leads to the development of scientific knowledge.

The How Science Works project [input summary]

Project Title: The Story Behind the Science: Humanizing Science to Improve Post-Secondary Science Education

Scope: 30 short stories in five scientific disciplines targeting college students taking introductory science courses.

Partial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation's Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program under Award No. 0618446.

Project Team

Dr. Michael P. Clough
Science Education
Principal Investigator

Dr. Cinzia Cervato
Geology

Dr. Matthew Stanley
History & Philosophy
of Science

Dr. Charles Kerton
Astronomy

Dr. Joanne K. Olson
Science Education

Dr. Craig Ogilvie
Physics

Dr. James T. Colbert
Ecology, Evolution, Biology

Joe Taylor
M.S., Science Education
Webmaster, Editor

Project Research

Clough, M.P. (2011). The Story Behind the Science: Bringing Science and Scientists to Life in Post-Secondary Science Education. Science & Education: 20(7): 701-717.

Clough, M.P., et. al. (2010). Seamlessly teaching science content and the nature of science: impact of historical short stories on post-secondary biology students. Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) National Conference, Sacramento, CA, January 14-16.

Kruse, J.W. (2010). Historical short stories in the post-secondary biology classroom: Investigation of instructor and student use and views. Doctoral dissertation.

Clough, M.P. (2009). Humanizing science to improve post-secondary science education. Proceedings of the Tenth International History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching conference.

Kruse, J.W., et. al. (2009). Investigating college biology majors' struggles to understand the nature of science from historically accurate short stories. Proceedings of the Tenth International History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching conference.

Kruse, J.W., et. al. (2009). Student and instructor reactions to the use of historical short stories in a post-secondary introductory biology course. Proceedings of the Tenth International History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching conference.

Olson, J.K., (2008). Should "Proof" and "Truth" Be Targeted First? Evidence for Addressing Some Nature of Science Concepts and Misconceptions Earlier Than Others. National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) International Conference, Baltimore, MD, March 30-April 2.

Vanderlinden, D. (2007). The effect of using historical narratives to teach the nature of science and science content in an undergraduate introductory geology course. Doctoral dissertation.

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