History Of Rigor: A Review Of 20th Century Science Education

TL;DR

This paper reviews the evolution of rigor in 20th century US science education, analyzing how sociopolitical factors and educational theories influenced its development over time.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analytical tool to assess the level of rigor in science education historically, based on sociopolitical and disciplinary perspectives.

Findings

Sociopolitical motivations affected rigor levels in science education.

Educational reforms influenced the theoretical understanding of rigor.

The analysis highlights shifts in science as a social endeavor and discipline.

Abstract

"Rigor" is an often sought after but ill-defined concept in education. This work reviews several models of rigor from current literature before proposing a tool which is used to analyze science education throughout history. The 20\textsuperscript{th} century science education in the United States was subject to changing sociopolitical motivations about the use of science both in general and for students. These factors as well as developments in theory of learning and broad education reforms had changing affects on the level of rigor in science education. This work analyzes the theoretical level of rigor of science education in the US based on two main motivating factors for science education; science as a social endeavor and science as a discipline, throughout the 20\textsuperscript{th} century.