Abstract

This chapter highlights the contributions of Joseph J. Schwab to the field of science education through a discussion of some of his most important published work. Schwab began his career on the faculty of the undergraduate college at the University of Chicago in the 1930s at a time when the college was engaged in a radical experiment in general education. Schwab believed that the undergraduate experience should develop an appreciation in students for the modes of thought used in scientific investigation through critical reading of original scientific papers and Socratic discourse with the goal of preparing them for a lifetime of learning and informed decision making. He later brought the lessons learned at Chicago to the 1960s era reform of school science.