Development of an instrument to assess secondary school students understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge

Rubba, Peter A.; Andersen, Hans O.

doi:10.1002/sce.3730620404

Cited by 186 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Still others ask students to evaluate experimental designs in terms of their capacity to test or discriminate between ideas (e.g., Driver et al, 1996;Koslowski, 1996;Kuhn et al, 1988;Leach et al, 2000;Linn & Songer, 1993), and then researchers draw inferences about how these evaluations reflect epistemological conceptions. Although some surveys have asked students to generally compare disciplines (e.g., Rubba & Andersen, 1978), I know of no studies where diversity of scientific methodologies is an explicit topic.…”

Section: The Conventional Wisdom On Students' Formal Epistemologies Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding students' practical epistemologies and their influence on learning through inquiry

2005

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Section: The Conventional Wisdom On Students' Formal Epistemologies Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding students' practical epistemologies and their influence on learning through inquiry

2005

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“…The nature of science, also known as epistemology of science, or science as a way of knowing, refers to the values and assumptions inherent to scientific knowledge (Spector & Lederman, 1990). These values and assumptions include, but are not limited to, tentativeness, creativity, subjectivity, and parsimony (AAAS, 1989(AAAS, , 1993Kimball, 1967 -68;Lederman, 1992;Rubba & Anderson, 1978).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understandings of the nature of science and decision making on science and technology based issues

2003

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ABSTRACT:The purpose of this investigation was to explicate the role of the nature of science in decision making on science and technology based issues and to delineate factors and reasoning associated with these types of decisions. Twenty-one volunteer participants purposively selected from the faculty of geographically diverse universities completed an open-ended questionnaire and follow-up interview designed to assess their decision making on science and technology based issues. Participants were subsequently placed in one of two groups based upon their divergent views of the nature of science as assessed by a second open-ended questionnaire and follow-up interview. Profiles of each group's decision making were then constructed, based on participants' previous responses to the decision making questionnaire and follow-up interviews. Finally, the two groups' decisions, decision influencing factors, and decision making strategies were compared. No differences were found between the decisions of the two groups, despite their disparate views of the nature of science. Participants in both groups based their decisions primarily on personal values, morals/ethics, and social concerns. While all participants considered scientific evidence in their decision making, most did not require absolute "proof," even though many participants held absolute conceptions of the nature of science. Overall, the nature of science did not figure prominently in either group's decisions. These findings contrast with basic assumptions of current science education reform efforts and call for a re-examination of the goals of nature of science instruction. Developing better decision making skills-even on science and technology based issues-may involve other factors, including more value-based instruction and attention to intellectual/moral development.

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“…Such views also cause difficulties in understanding the way theories are developed and the features of theories that distinguish them from laws but also from non-scientific explanations. A typical student misconception is the view that scientific theories, through continuous control and validation, will eventually mature and become laws (Rubba & Andersen, 1978;Meyling, 1997). This view has passed into the literature as the "laws are mature theories" myth.…”

Section: Pupils' Views On Laws and Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To be more specific, students' perception that laws are more valid than theories -which is also mentioned by Mackay (1971), Rubba & Andersen (1978), Meyling (1997), Blanco & Niaz (1997), Irez (2006) and Akerson & Hanuscin (2007) -appears to impact on all the issues under discussion. According to this perception, the difference between laws and theories lies in their degree of validity and not in their different functions; as a result, students believe that mature theories become laws.…”

Section: Journal Of Studies In Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary Student Teachers’ Understanding of Basic Ideas of Nature of Science: Laws, Theories and Models

Stefanidou

Skordoulis²

2017

JSE

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Nature of Science is an integral part of scientific literacy which researchers and international policy-making institutions highlight as the purpose of science education. The notions of scientific law, theories and models are crucial for understanding the Nature of Science. These notions are better grasped in the historical context of Nature of Science. For this purpose, appropriate instructional sequences, based on semi-structured interviews, were designed and implemented to investigate whether and how the student teachers of Primary Education can perceive these concepts. The study revealed that after particular difficulties were confronted, student teachers were able to grasp firmly the notions of scientific law, theories, models and the relationships among them.

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Development of an instrument to assess secondary school students understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge

Cited by 186 publications

References 3 publications

Understanding students' practical epistemologies and their influence on learning through inquiry

Understanding students' practical epistemologies and their influence on learning through inquiry

Understandings of the nature of science and decision making on science and technology based issues

Primary Student Teachers’ Understanding of Basic Ideas of Nature of Science: Laws, Theories and Models

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