Faux marble, cascading staircases, neo-Classical statues, garden fountains and the grandeur of an 18th-century villa cast the mood for the Fifth International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Conference this past September. The setting was Allesandra VoltaÕs home town, Como, Italy, and the occasion also served to celebrate the bicentennary of his invention of the battery. Session themes ranged from the status of Project 2061 and the role of values in science to debates about constructivism (and its role in the science classroom) and student misconceptions about the nature of science.

HSS members may recall overlapping with this same group in Minneapolis in 1995. Last fall they would have seen such familiar faces as John Heilbron, Roger Stuewer, Dick Burian and James Rutherford, among others. The group addresses perhaps the largest potential professional audience for historians of science: science educators. As exemplified in AAASÕs Project 2061, science education reform in the past decade has highlighted the importance of history of science in developing student understanding of the nature of science Ñas a process and as an institution in society. Historians have an important roleÑ and potential employmentÑ here. For example, there is a growing number of "Science Educator" positions in science departments seeking expertise in history of science. Several junior HSS members have found such positions in recent years.

The 1999 Como meeting underscored some of the challenges involved in integrating history into science teaching. Heilbron, in a plenary presentation, emphasized the need to distinguish teaching history of science in history contexts from teaching history of science in science contexts. It is an important distinction for historians to bear in mind. In science classes, the history, while indispensable, becomes background. The central focus is to understand the scientific concept or the general nature of conceptual change or the cultural biases of individual scientists, for instance. Sometimes the history might even be invisible. For example, history can help the teacher interpret student misconceptions, which frequently parallel historical views. Or, as exemplified in Paul FarberÕs biology text, a lineage of historical questions can give natural structure to a curriculum sequence. In all these cases, science educators profit immeasurably from the expertise of well-trained historians in guiding their work.

Another major challenge is establishing sensitive historical perspectives. Science teachers, on the whole, are even more Whiggish and positivistic than scientists. Many HSS members at Como winced (despite themselves) at the elementary understanding of history exhibited by many (not all) educators there. It is alarming to imagine that these perspectives might permeate K-12 science classrooms. Our research, however professional, will be for naught, if historians of science cannot instill deeper respect for historical context among non-historians. Here, too, historians have a vital role in science education (also see http://www1.umn.edu/ships/updates/hist-not.htm).

One solution, already well underway, is to develop a richer understanding among new teachers. Accordingly, many education departments have sent their students off to take existing courses in history and/or philosophy of science, or in some cases they have worked with historians to develop special courses for educatorsÑall giving us much-appreciated "business"! Unfortunately, these separate courses may not be fully effective. One important and surprising new finding echoed by several educational researchers at the Como meeting (see papers by Abd- el-Khalick & Lederman; and Gess-Newsome) was that these courses do not always achieve their objective in transforming how future teachers view science. Instead, they find, the lessons of history are more effective if they are integrated into the learning of scientific concepts or coupled with explicit reflection on a studentÕs own investigative experience. The contribution of historians may be most valuable in transforming science classes themselves. Historians may thus find an opportunity, here, to re-establish (or strengthen) ties with science departments and the instructors of introductory science courses.

Despite all these challenges, interest is growing in the field of applying history (and science studies, more generally) to science teaching. About 230 people from 30 countries participated in the Como meetings. The group offers a valuable forum for linking to persons from diverse locations beyond the U.S. and Western Europe, including Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, Israel and the BalkansÑall represented in Como. For those who would like to attend the IHPST conference vicariously, the conference papers are available online at: http://opus.cilea.it/cgi-bin/fisicasite/webdriver?MIval=qp_paviam&pg=PV The IHPST group, now nine years old, also publishes a journal, Science & Education (Kluwer). For information or a sample copy, see: http://www.wkap.nl/journalhome.htm/0926-7220. Some fine resources for teaching about Volta and his inventions, developed by Fabio Bevilaqua and the host group at the Universita di Pavia for this special occasion, are available at: http://File-server.cilea.it/Museo/Pages/ePage0.html

Plans are underway for HSS to meet concurrently with the IHPST group in Denver in 2001. Members interested in participating, especially by leading a short seminar on recent developments in their field, should contact Douglas Allchin (allchin@pclink.com).