How Do University Students Perceive the Nature of Science?

Akgün, Selin; Kaya, Ebru

doi:10.1007/s11191-020-00105-x

Cited by 52 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The contributions of the FRA in science education have been documented in a recent review . For example, FRA has been applied to teacher education (Kaya et al, 2019), undergraduate teaching and learning (Akgun & Kaya, 2020;Petersen et al, 2020), curriculum analysis (Cheung, 2020;Kaya & Erduran, 2016;Yeh et al, 2019), textbook analysis (McDonald, 2017;Park, Wu, et al, 2020;Park, Yang, et al, 2020), and STEM education (Couso & Simmaro, 2020;Park et al, 2020b). Erduran, Kaya, and Avraamidou (2020) investigated how the FRA framework could be linked to broader curricular goals related to social justice, and the utility of FRA in the enculturation of university students in scientific cultures has been explored (Mohan & Kelly, 2020).…”

Section: Family Resemblance Approach To Nature Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Scientists’ Views of the Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science in Science Education

Erduran

2022

Sci & Educ

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In this paper, we use the “Family Resemblance Approach” (FRA) as a framework to characterize how scientists view the nature of science (NOS). FRA presents NOS as a “system” that includes clusters or categories of ideas about the cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional aspects of science. For example, the cognitive-epistemic aspects include aims and values such as objectivity and scientific methods such as hypothesis testing. Social-institutional aspects refer to a range of components including social values such as honesty about evidence and institutional contexts of science such as research institutions. Characterized as such, NOS is thus a system of interacting components. The initial account of FRA was proposed by philosophers of science and subsequently adapted and extended for science education including through empirical studies. Yet, there is little understanding of the extent to which FRA coheres with scientists’ own depictions about NOS. Hence, an empirical study was conducted with scientists to investigate their views about FRA as well as their views of NOS using the FRA framework. In so doing, the research sought to explore the utility of FRA from scientists’ point of view. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of 17 Taiwanese scientists’ responses to a set of written questions indicates that scientists are in agreement with the FRA account of NOS, and they detail all aspects in their reference to NOS, although the social-institutional aspects are underrepresented in their depiction. Implications for further studies and science education are discussed.

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Section: Family Resemblance Approach To Nature Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Scientists’ Views of the Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science in Science Education

Erduran

2022

Sci & Educ

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“…Many others have described the usefulness of insights and educational approaches from the disciplines of history, philosophy, and sociology of science. It is even suggested that students in the foundational fields of history, philosophy, and sociology have a better understanding of the nature of science than students in scientific disciplines (Akgun & Kaya, 2020 ). Nonetheless, we feel that many disciplinary programs in higher education barely make use of what these fields have to offer to the education of their students.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educating for Responsible Research Practice in Biomedical Sciences

2021

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New developments in the field of biomedicine can have extensive implications for society. To steer research efforts in a responsible direction, biomedical scientists should contribute to a forward-looking ethical, and societal evaluation of new developments. However, the question remains how to equip students sufficiently with the skills they need to contribute to this evaluation. In this paper, we examine how the four dimensions of Responsible Research and Innovation (anticipation, reflexivity, inclusivity, and responsiveness) inform the identification of learning goals and teaching approaches that contribute to developing these skills in biomedical scientists. We suggest that these educational approaches focus on the skills to anticipate intended and unintended outcomes, reflect on the epistemological and moral aspects of research practice, and be inclusive of the variety of voices in society. We argue that if these dimensions are properly integrated into biomedical curricula, they will help students develop the attitudinal aspects necessary for becoming responsive, and prepare them for implementing the dimensions of responsible research into their daily practice. This paper focuses specifically on skills biomedical scientists need for the responsible conduct of research. Therefore, our analysis results, at least in part, in domain-specific recommendations. We invite educators from other disciplines to do the same exercise, as we believe this could lead to tailored educational approaches by which students from various disciplinary backgrounds learn how they each have a role in contributing to socially robust and morally responsible research practice.

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“…BouJaoude et al, 2017;McDonald, 2017; as well as studies that have investigated elementary (e.g. Akgun & Kaya, 2020) and university students' understanding of NOS (Akgun & Kaya, 2020). A growing number of studies have explored the merits of using this NOS approach in supporting teacher professional development (Erduran et al, 2021), analyzing curriculum policy documents and textbooks (BouJaoude et al, 2017), and pushing the FRA's conceptual boundaries further.…”

Section: Family Resemblance Approach To Nature Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Student, Teacher, and Scientist Views of the Scientific Enterprise: An Epistemic Network Re-analysis

Peters‐Burton

Dagher

Erduran

2022

Int J of Sci and Math Educ

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There is substantial research in science education about students’, teachers’, and scientists’ views of nature of science (NOS). Many studies have used NOS frameworks that focus on particular ideas such as tentativeness of scientific knowledge and cultural embeddedness of science. In this paper, we investigate NOS from the perspective of the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) which considers clusters of ideas about science in terms of categories that offer a comprehensive analytical lens to studying NOS views. The empirical study re-analyzes NOS views obtained from 7 and 8th grade students, science teachers, and scientists using the FRA lens. Statements from all three groups were obtained using a free-write questionnaire on nature of knowledge and nature of knowing. The statements were reclassified using the FRA framework. Epistemic network analysis (ENA) was applied to the statements produced by each group of participants, and the resulting network models were interpreted and compared. The results show that student and teacher network models possessed no central idea, and more tangible ideas about science were frequently connected. Scientist network models showed more connections across their statements which indicate a higher degree of agreement and coherence among a variety of ideas compared to student and teacher network models. The paper discusses the findings as well as the methodological contributions, and concludes with implications for future research.

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How Do University Students Perceive the Nature of Science?

Cited by 52 publications

References 27 publications

Investigating Scientists’ Views of the Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science in Science Education

Investigating Scientists’ Views of the Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science in Science Education

Educating for Responsible Research Practice in Biomedical Sciences

Student, Teacher, and Scientist Views of the Scientific Enterprise: An Epistemic Network Re-analysis

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