Showing papers in "Science Education in 1994"

Scientific literacy for decisionmaking and the social construction of scientific knowledge

Abstract: Citizens are often required to make decisions about socioscientific issues in a climate characterized by conflict within both the scientific community and the larger society. Central to the process of decisionmaking is a critical examination of the relevant scientific knowledge involved. Individuals capable of performing this task can be considered scientifically literate in a decisionmaking sense. In this article we explore two ways of critically examining scientific knowledge in the context of a current socioscientific dispute: NASA's Galileo Mission to Jupiter. The two approaches we outline, termed the positivist and social constructivist positions, are examined in terms of their inherent views concerning the nature of scientific knowledge, in particular their use of constitutive and contextual values when evaluating knowledge claims. Because the social constructivist position acknowledges the importance of contextual values, it provides citizens with accessible standards for evaluating scientific knowledge claims. The positivist position, on the other hand, relies on constitutive values which we show are normally inaccessible to ordinary citizens. The positivist position, however, is most closely associated with the predominant social issues approach to science-technology-society (STS) education. Implications little consensus about which statements are fact (i.e., will remain stable when challenged) and which opinion, (i.e., will be modified when challenged). All knowledge is potentially unreliable when one is dealing with a socioscientific dispute. The adoption of a social constructivist view of scientific knowledge and its inherent way of evaluating knowledge claims clearly has implications for future approaches to STS education. Although one approach might be to offer a course in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science, this would not be useful without reference to the way in which such knowledge can help students to understand the context of a conflict within the society of scientists and the larger society. As Rosenthal (1989) argues, a synthesis is needed in which social issues are seen as a vehicle for studying the social studies of science and the social issues are seen as a way of making sense of social aspects of science. However, this way of teaching STS may be difficult to implement. In British Columbia, for example, science teachers have resisted efforts to include the social context of science within a traditional university-oriented physics course (Gaskell, 1992) and to teach a grade 11 social issues oriented sicence and technology course (Gaskell, 1989). This may be because the current social issues approach is most compatible with traditional science content as it is now taught: it simply shows the relevance of textbook knowledge (ready-made science) to contemporary probles. The shift to the approach suggested above will require a more drastic reorganization of the curriculum, one that may be resisted by the current stakeholders in science education (Duschl, 1988; Gaskell, 1989).

Reexamining Connections: Museums as Science Learning Environments.

Abstract: The role of science museums in science education is changing. This article examines the science museum literature in light of the new emphasis for museums to become a unique partner with schools and colleges to enhance science literacy. Museums provide opportunities for students to be active participants in learning by manipulating real objects in a stimulating setting thus enhancing conceptual learning in the classroom. Both components of learning are important for understanding of complex science concepts. Much of the literature pertaining to learning in museums is anecdotal and craft wisdom, indicating that more collaborative research efforts are needed in the area of science education in museum settings. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Multiculturalism, universalism, and science education

Abstract: Multiculturalists have recently raised a number of important challenges to the school curriculum, including whose knowledge are we teaching? and who benefits and loses by existing approaches to the curriculum? In this article we examine a number of issues in this debate that are of primary importance to science educators. These issues include: (1) problems with the universalist account of the nature of science that has been the most powerful defense against multiculturalism; (2) an examination of some historical cases that illuminate the consequences of maintaining a universalist perspective on science; and (3) an argument for a multicultural perspective on scientific knowledge. These issues are examined in the context of a national science education reform in which there is considerable consensus that the science curriculum should include teaching about the nature of science. We argue that the nature of science taught in school should reflect a multicultural perspective on scientific knowledge. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Assessing Students' Abilities to Construct and Interpret Line Graphs: Disparities between Multiple-Choice and Free-Response Instruments

Abstract: The author is concerned about the methodology and instrumentation used to assess both graphing abilities and the impact of microcomputer-based laboratories (MBL) on students’ graphing abilities for four reasons: (1) the ability to construct and interpret graphs is critical for developing key ideas in science; (2) science educators need to have valid information for making teaching decisions; (3) educators and researchers are heralding the arrival of MBL as a tool for developing graphing abilities; and (4) some of the research which supports using MBL appears to have significant validity problems. In this article, the author will describe the research which challenges the validity of using multiple-choice instruments to assess graphing abilities. The evidence from this research will identify numerous disparities between the results of multiple-choice and free-response instruments. In the first study, 72 subjects in the seventh, ninth, and eleventh grades were administered individual clinical interviews to assess their ability to construct and interpret graphs. A wide variety of graphs and situations were assessed. In three instances during the interview, students drew a graph that would best represent a situation and then explained their drawings. The results of these clinical graphing interviews were very different from similar questions assessed through multiple-choice formats in other research studies. In addition, insights into students’ thinking about graphing reveal that some multiple-choice graphing questions from prior research studies and standardized tests do not discriminate between right answerslright reasons, right answers/wrong reasons, and answers scored “wrong” but correct for valid reasons. These results indicate that in some instances multiple-choice questions are not a valid measure of graphing abilities, In a second study, the researcher continued to pursue the questions raised about the validity of multiple-choice tests to assess graphing, researching the following questions: What can be learned about subjects’ graphing abilities when students draw their own graphs compared to assessing by means of a multiple-choice instrument? Does the methodology used to assess graphing abilities: (1) affect the percentage of subjects who answer correctly; (2) alter the percentage of subjects affected by the “picture of the event” phenomenon? Instruments were constructed consisting of

Does the use of analogies contribute to conceptual change

Abstract: The nature of the contribution of analogies to conceptual change is far from straight forward. First, review of three studies and evidence from other sources point to a modest contribution of analogies to normal conceptual change. Second, the construct of conceptual change has been defined in many ways with more preeminence given to radical conceptual change. I point out that weak or normal conceptual change is worthy of equal attention from science educators. Third, conceptualizing conceptual change in terms of gradations on a continuum enables teachers and researchers to achieve a clearer understanding of the way in which analogies contribute to conceptual change. Fourth, in order to give analogies a fair evaluation, the conceptual change paradigm ought to endorse a broader conception of change which conjoins propositional and procedural knowledge and accounts for the affective and creative processes that are associated with the education of the whole person and not only the learning of specific concepts. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The relationship between visitor characteristics and learning‐associated behaviors in a science museum discovery space

Abstract: As informal educational institutions, science museums must do more than entertain and amaze visitors. Museum educators must design exhibits that attract and hold the attention of visitors long enough so that the visitors become engaged with the exhibits and learn from them. In order for museum educators to develop such exhibits, more information is needed about the variables associated with learning in museums. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on informal education by examining the relationship between visitor characteristics and attraction, holding power, and visitor engagement. One hundred fifty-four visitors to a science museum discovery space were observed as they interacted freely with the exhibits. Trained volunteers recorded the subjects' movements including the exhibits at which they stopped (attraction), the amount of time spent at each exhibit (holding power), and behaviors indicative of subjects' engagement levels with the exhibits. Data indicated significant differences between age group and the holding power of exhibits. Though not significant statistically, a similar trend was noted between age group and attraction and visitor engagement level. No significant differences were found between gender or social grouping and attraction, holding power, or engagement levels. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Understanding a basic biological process: Expert and novice models of meiosis

Abstract: Central to secondary and college-level biology instruction is the development of student understanding of a number of subcellular processes. Yet some of the most crucial are consistently cited as the most difficult components of biology to learn. Among these is meiosis. In this article I report on the meiosis models utilized by five individuals at each of three levels of expertise in genetics as each reasoned about this process in an individual interview setting. Detailed characterization of individual meiosis models and comparison among models revealed a set of biologically correct features common to all individuals' models as well as a variety of model flaws (i.e., meiosis misunderstandings) which are categorized according to type and level of expertise. These results are suggestive of both sources of various misunderstandings and factors that might contribute to the construction of a sound understanding of meiosis. Each of these is addressed in relation to their respective implications for instruction.

Bridging the gap: An analysis of the needs of second‐year science teachers

Abstract: This article reports on the themes and issues which impact on the pedagogical development of 14 beginning science teachers at the end of their second year of full-time teaching. The research data was derived from semistructured interviews with the teachers and endeavors to portray the teachers' perspective of their development. This article demonstrates some of the difficulties associated with learning to teach science when teachers come from a preservice education program that encourages them to consider their understanding of learning and how it relates to their approach to teaching. The teachers in this study recognize how the factors of time, confidence and support each individually influence their teaching. However, when these three factors are considered together and are juxtaposed with the experiences and ideals of their preservice education program, the factors combined become a dilemma as they attempt to bridge the gap between what they hope to do as science teachers and what they can do in the real world of schools. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Science: The Salters' approach‐a case study of the process of large scale curriculum development

Abstract: The Salters' curriculum development projects provide complete applications-led science or chemistry programs for students ages 11-18. In terms of the scale of their adoption by teachers in the UK and the interest they have generated in other countries, the developments have been successful. This article is a retrospective analysis of the process of large scale curriculum development. It locates the projects and their development within the range of approaches advocated in science education and considers the practical decisions taken during the development in relation to theories of curriculum development and change. A case is made for regarding large scale curriculum development as a form of technological problem solving, starting from an analysis of the needs of teachers and the formulation of design criteria, and then drawing, when needed, on a range of theoretical ideas concerning content selection, how young people learn and how change is managed. The implications of this view for curriculum evaluation are considered. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Bringing pupils' learning closer to a scientific construction of knowledge: A permanent feature in innovations in science teaching

Abstract: In this article we intend to show that the idea of linking science learning to the way of doing science constitutes a permanent feature, although not always explicit, in innovations in science teaching. A thread which, in our opinion, has shown itself to be fruitful, even through its wrong avenues, and that is being reinforced nowadays by the emerging constructivist paradigm and by the implications of the contemporary philosophy of science in science education.

Erzberger's dilemma: Validity in action research and science teachers' need to know

Abstract: In recent years, action research has increasingly become a part of university programs in teacher education. Courses for pre-service teachers and for teachers returning to the university for advanced degrees are requiring some form of teacher-research (Gore and Zeichner, 1991; Ross, 1987; Zelazek and Lamson, 1992). This trend can be seen in individual schools of education spread throughout the US and in major reform efforts. Action research is also being recognized as a method of in-service staff development, as can be seen in recent dissemination efforts by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) (Sagor, 1992), its inclusion in edited books on staff development (Holly, 1991), and its use as a tool in school restructuring (Sagor and Curley, 1991).

Referents for Changing a Science Curriculum: A Case Study of One Teacher's Change in Beliefs.

Abstract: This interpretive investigation of curricular change involved Karl, a middle school science teacher Initially, he made sense of his and student roles in terms of objectivism and the teacher having control When Karl had opportunities to observe the teaching of a colleague he began to consider changes in his teaching The referents used to frame alternative teacher and student roles were students having greater autonomy for their actions and constructivism However, constraints, such as shortage of time and beliefs of colleagues and students favored the retention of traditional practices Although Karl's commitment to change was sufficiently strong to ensure that changes would be attempted, old belief sets and associated practices, restraints, and new belief sets and associated practices co-existed in a dialectical relationship Effecting meaningful change necessitated teacher learning and sustaining of new equilibria between a complex array of interacting sociocultural factors

Sociology of scientific knowledge and scientific education: Part I

Abstract: This article is the first of two that will examine the claims of contemporary sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) and the bearing of these claims upon the rationale and practice of science teaching. It is maintained that if the claims of SSK are true then there are serious, and educationally and culturally deleterious, implications which follow. The two articles will argue that, fortunately, the claims of SSK for the external causation of scientific belief are baseless. And thus science teachers should resist admonitions to accept the findings of the sociology of science.

Pseudoscience, the paranormal, and science education

Abstract: The study of pseudoscience and the paranormal is an important but neglected aspect of science education. Given the widespread acceptance of pseudoscientific and paranormal beliefs, science educators need to take seriously the problem of how these can be combated. I propose teaching science students to critically evaluate the claims of pseudoscience and the paranormal, something that can be accomplished in a variety of ways.

The nature of fourth graders' understandings of electric circuits

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to interpret the nature of fourth graders' understandings of electric circuits. The qualitative study was guided by constructivist theory and utilized two small groups of four children each. Each child was interviewed prior to and after, as well as observed throughout, the instructional unit on simple electric circuits. The interviews centered around three different electric circuit tasks: predictions and explanations of eight electric circuit problems: the completion and explanation of three electric circuit drawings; and the identification of an electric current diagram, which was based on Osborne's (1983) work. The findings for these children suggested that: (1) the nature of children's understandings of electric circuits is dependent upon the interplay between their understandings of circuit connections and understandings of electric current; (2) prior to instruction children's understandings of electric circuits were scientifically inaccurate and tended to emphasize understandings of circuit connections; (3) children held multiple understandings of electric current prior to instruction, whereas following instruction most children held a single understanding of electric current, albeit scientifically inaccurate; and (4) after instruction children demonstrated a more accurate technical understanding of electric circuits, but only one child demonstrated a scientific understanding of electric current. Based on these findings, conclusions about knowledge restructuring are presented, as well as implications for teaching, assessment, and research. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A Historical Analysis of Electric Currents in Textbooks: A Century of Influence on Physics Education.

Abstract: The typical model of electric current which we present to students is one of electron movement between points at different potentials. The problems associated with this model of electricity have been the subject of much educational research, particularly with respect to the use of analogies. The water-circuit analogy, especially, has received considerable attention. Despite this, students continue to hold remarkably persistent alternative conceptions about the nature of simple circuits. Historically, the electromagnetic field theories of Faraday and Maxwell constitute important steps towards modern understanding of transmission of electric current along a wire. Textbooks from 1891 to 1991, however, reflect remarkably little change in their presentation of direct-current circuitry, most texts by implication portraying, in various ways, a fluid model which predates Faraday. Against this background, this paper describes the ways in which textbooks interpret historical developments for teaching texts and the time which may elapse before such developments have an impact in the classroom. It also highlights important issues relating to the intrinsic merit of contemporary textbook treatments of electricity and examines their importance with respect to classroom teaching.

Sociology of Scientific Knowledge and Science Education Part 2: Laboratory Life under the Microscope.

Abstract: This article is the second of two that examine some of the claims of contemporary sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) and the bearing of these claims upon the rationale and practice of science teaching. In the present article the celebrated work Laboratory Life of Latour and Woolgar is critically examined. Its radical, iconoclastic view of science is shown to be not merely without foundation but an extravagant deconstructionist nihilism according to which all science is fiction and the world is said to be socially constructed by negotiation. On this view, the success of a theory is not due to its intellectual merits or explanatory plausibility but to the capacity of its proponents to “extract compliance” from others. If warranted, such views pose a revolutionary challenge to the entire Western tradition of science and the goals of science education which must be misguided and unrealizable in principle. Fortunately, there is little reason to take these views seriously, though their widespread popularity is cause for concern among science educators.

Notes on the Cultural Significance of the Sciences.

Abstract: ‘Cultural’ in the title is intended to allude to the bearing of the sciences on humanity's general orientation in the world. Questions about this are distinguished from ones about the sciences' instrumental aspect, as means to ends extrinsic to them qua sciences, and also from ones about their intrinsic character, except to the extent that these bear on the central topic of the paper. It is argued that the sciences, ethical/moral reflection and the arts are distinct but inseparable. The sciences may be regarded as ‘first among equals’ substantively, insofar they are a privileged source of a certain specially important sort of factual knowledge, and, methodologically, insofar as they provide a particularly clear model for understanding a purely naturalistic approach to the world. ...Ulrich...loved mathematics because of the people who could not endure it. He was not so much scientifically as humanly in love with science...many people for whom mathematics or natural science is a job feel it is almost an outrage if someone goes in for science for reasons like [his]. ...[He]...hated...all those who give up half-way, the faint-hearted, the soft, those who comfort their souls with flummery about the soul and who feed it, because the intellect allegedly gives it stones instead of bread, on religious, philosophical and fictitious emotions, which are like buns soaked in milk. ...soul is...easily defined negatively: it is simply what curls up and hides when there is any mention of an algebraic series. Robert Musil, , Bk. I, Chs. 11, 13, 25.

On theory of learning and knowledge: Educational implications of advances in neuroscience

Abstract: The first section analyses the so-called mechanical theories of learning that underpin the transmission view of teaching that so permeates education and schooling. There is an impasse in current theories due to lack of explanation about how we acquire knowledge. In response to what appears to be insuperable problems in current psychological theories, the second section promotes a neuroscientific basis for resolution of the impasse; a basis which renders at least some aspects of information theory redundant. Finally, implications for the transmission-of-knowledge approach to teaching are addressed. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Software support for students engaging in scientific activity and scientific controversy

Abstract: Computer environments could support students in engaging in cognitive activities that are essential to scientific practice and to the understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge, but that are difficult to manage in science classrooms. The authors describe a design for a computer-based environment to assist students in conducting dialectical activities of constructing, comparing, and evaluating arguments for competing scientific theories. Their choice of activities and their design respond to educators' and theorists' criticisms of current science curricula. They give detailed specifications of portions of the environment. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A Model of Intelligibility in Science: Using Galileo's Balance as a Model for Understanding the Motion of Bodies.

Abstract: In 1590, or thereabouts, Galileo wrote the manuscript De Motu (Galileo 1590). In this text he attempted to demonstrate the errors of Aristotelian natural philosophy and began his lifelong attempt to construct a science of motion. The chief device in De Motu was his wide ranging use of the balance. The balance was a simple machine, familiar to all, that Galileo could describe using principles of equilibrium.

Gender, Ethnicity, and Students' Perceptions about Science and Science-Related Careers in Fiji.

Abstract: This study examines the relationships between gender, ethnicity, and Fijian students' attitudes and perceptions about science, attributions of success and failure in science as school, science as a career, and the career-related advice they received. Data were collected with a questionnaire administered to a stratified, random, one-sixth sample of Form 5 (16-year-old) students in Fiji. Gender and ethnicity were found to have no consistent relationship with students' perceptions, attitudes, and attributions about science. However, students, particularly males, demonstrated strong sex-stereotyping of science-related careers, and different kinds of career advice were given to students on the basis of their gender and ethnicity. These, rather than students' attitudes and performance in science, are more likely to explain the patterns linking gender and ethnicity with the science-related work force and higher education in Fiji.

A critique of Hodson's in search of a rationale for multicultural science education

Abstract: “the most remarkable discovery made by scientists is science itself” –Gerard Piel as quoted by Jacob Bronowski.

Science, Stories, and Sense-Making: A Comparison of Qualitative Data from a Wetlands Unit.

Abstract: Posner's theory of conceptual change forms the background for this study which focuses upon conceptual ecology, specifically upon the heuristics children appear to employ in sense-making. The study reports data from a 2-week wetland unit conducted during a summer camp program. The data consist of tape recordings and drawings made by the children. The analysis focuses upon two children who demonstrate remarkably different sense-making heuristics: a recognizably scientific one and one that involves the generation of metaphors and personalized stories. The study argues the importance of attending to the heuristics of sense-making in studies of conceptual ecology and conceptual change. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Toward preparing students for change: A critical discussion of the contribution of the history of physics in physics teaching

Abstract: In this paper I place physics teaching, and the inclusion of the history of physics into teaching, within a wide context. I start from the conviction that there are considerable changes ahead in the life circumstances of people in western industrial societies. This expectation should influence our aims of education generally, and in particular the aims of physics teaching. The paper does not offer final solutions, but analyses the situation and thereby argues for a change in perspective in physics teaching. The main idea is that physics teaching has to solve the problem of balancing seemingly incompatible needs, for example, conveying a stock of stable, dependable physics knowledge to students, and on the other hand to train them to see their physics knowledge within varying contexts of change. It is argued that the history of physics can be of high value in solving this problem.