THE ROLE OF ASSUMPTIONS IN NINTH-GRADE GENERAL SCIENCE.

The article evaluates the role of assumptions in the teaching of general science in secondary education. The author aims to determine the assumptions which may be supplemental to the observational data and are essential to the acceptance of conclusions through a selected group of experimental exercises in ninth-grade general science. According to the author, most of the experimental work in general science is devoted to the illustration of principles or their application. In addition, the basic essentials of good experimental technique involving such elements as the formulation of hypotheses, the collection and evaluation of evidence, the setting of controls, the identification of variables, the testing of hypotheses and the identification and evaluation of assumptions which are basic to the acceptance of conclusions are given less importance.