Argues that a skills-based approach for the assessment of laboratory work is philosophically unsound, educationally worthless, and pedagogically dangerous. Proposes an alternative, holistic approach to assessment, based on a more valid model of scientific practice. (Contains 38 references.) (MDH)

Discusses the inherent flaws in considering and using the epistemology of the natural sciences as equivalent to a pedagogic basis for teaching and learning in the natural sciences. Discusses the difference between practicing science and learning to practice science. Concludes with the presentation of three new motives for the use of laboratory…

Examines recent developments in Nancy Cartwright's philosophy of science against the background of her earlier ideas. Argues that Cartwright's views fall within the broad empiricist tradition. Contains 19 references. (Author/WRM)

Philosophers' attempts to convincingly explicate the received view of an ad hoc hypothesis--that it accounts for only the observations it was designed to account for--have been unsuccessful. Familiar and firmer criteria for evaluating the hypotheses or modified theories so classified are characteristically available. Contains 41 references.…

Discusses a dimension of hermeneutics in science that has to do with the production of the experimental object, or with act rather than text hermeneutics. Examines the hermeneutics of experimentation and differing perspectives of technique. (LZ)

Discusses recent science studies that focus on experimentation and the implications of these studies for the philosophy of science. Argues that the results of scientific experiments are practical productions that embody practical solutions to some of the key problems that have worried science philosophers. (Author/WRM)

This paper extends discussion of Cushing's contribution to Bohm's deterministic interpretation of quantum mechanics, which raises the question of whether self-understanding is at issue in physical science as it is in social science. Addresses ideas by Bevilacqua and Giannetto about the use of historical texts and the primacy of experiment. (LZ)

Finds that interpretation of Galileo's only known experimental manuscript produces some interesting questions that offer pedagogical applications. Promotes classroom "research games" consisting of reconstructed experiments with Galileo's inclined plane and with other instruments to allow further speculation. (Author/WRM)