Didactic Handout on Nature of Science: Toward Effective Teaching of Physical Science Curriculum

Abstract

The decision to integrate Nature of Science into classroom practice is no longer a debate among science educators and curriculum experts. There exists empirical evidence to substantiate its effectiveness, judging by both the academic performance and ability of students to conceptualize abstract yet teachable areas in science. Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement of physical science permits for teachers, fundamentally, the discretion to inculcate and incorporate Nature of Science in classroom practices. However, the usual classroom practices are far from the expectations of both curriculum experts and policy makers in the field of science education. Ambiguity, accessibility, and perceived non-domestication were three areas identified in the literature to be responsible for lack of integration aside capacity building. This manuscript provided answers to the three areas of need by traversing relevant literature on both Nature of Science and Science education with a view to aggregate and simplifies scholarly positions for easy classroom usage for teachers and educators alike. Positions were drawn from nature of science, attendant curriculum, and position of literature with respect to the locale. Literature reviewed in this manuscript avail reader’s inherent conditioning and grit to understand nature of science and its essence in science teaching and learning.

Preservice Teachers’ Level of Knowledge on Elements and Rationale for Nature of Science: Towards Advancing Quality Instruction

“…An effort which is usually driven by on-the-job training which deviates from the traditional way preservice content are structured. Those effort mostly arose from capacity building workshops, training and occasional self-development (Badmus and Jita, 2022). Substantively, what is required of science teacher educators and trainers for the training of preservice teachers on NOS instruction for improved practice has a place in the literature.…”

Physics difficulty and problem-solving: Exploring the role of mathematics and mathematical symbols

“…The History of Science (HOS) and Nature of Science (NOS) provide educators with valuable guidance on how to integrate these concepts into the teaching and learning of physics (McComas, 2020;McComas & Clough, 2020). The teaching and learning of physics are not separate from pedagogical strategies that facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the science of matter, energy, and their interactions (Badmus & Jita, 2022a;Jardim et al, 2021;Viennot & Décamp, 2020). Additionally, there are established competencies for effective and efficient physics instruction that consider both NOS and HOS, which are particularly important within the physical sciences curriculum (Nouri & McComas, 2021;Sweeney & McComas, 2022).…”