Learning Science through the Arts: The Theory and the Educational Possibilities

Abstract

The primary purpose of this paper is to highlight the crucial importance of integrating art with science. To do so the paper provides a justification of the inclusion of the arts in the science curriculum, by drawing extensively on both theoretical and empirical work. Thus the paper discusses both the epistemological rationale and the pedagogical rationale behind the integration of art and science. It then provides concrete examples as teaching/learning possibilities with regard to the teaching and learning of science through the arts. The paper makes it quite clear that the inclusion of the arts in the science curriculum can be justified on both epistemological and pedagogical grounds and not simply because the inclusion of the arts makes science learning interesting.