Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education (한국과학교육학회지)

The Korean Association for Science Education (한국과학교육학회)
권호 표지

Philosophical Views on Science of Major Science Curriculum Documents in USA

  • Published : 2003.08.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine philosophical views on science of two influential curriculum documents, AAAS' s Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy (Benchmark) and NRC's National Science Education Standards (Standard), and to get educational implications about a desired philosophical view on science at a school science level. In order to determine the philosophical views on science explicitly suggested in the documents, Soh's Philosophical Perspectives Probe (PPP) was used as a framework for analysis. Forty preservice teachers reviewed the documents, extracting paragraphs with which statements of the PPP' s questions would agree. The results of the study were as follows: First, the Benchmark's philosophical view on science corresponds to the borderline between inductivism and eclecticism, or eclecticism close to falsificationism. The philosophical positions by the PPP' s themes are very different. Second, the Standard's philosophical position on science corresponds to inductivism close to eclecticism. Its philosophical position by the themes of the PPP is very different like the Benchmark. These results indicate that philosophical positions of the documents are more complex than popular conceptions would have it. That is to say, the results suggest that the science curriculum documents hold not only a contemporary philosophical view on science but also a traditional view on science, and that the philosophical positions on science are different from each other by documents and even by the PPP's themes in the same document. The results suggest that the philosophical views on science in school science contexts need to be adjusted and presented to K-12 students according to topics related to philosophy of science.

Keywords

References

  1. AAAS. (1993). Benchmarks for science literacy: A Project 2061 report. New York: Oxford University Press
  2. Abd-El-Khalick, F, & Lederman, N. G. (2000). Improving science teachers' conception of the nature of science: A critical review of the literature. International Journal of Science Education, 22(7), 665-701 https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690050044044
  3. Alters, B. J. (1997). Whose nature of science? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34(1). 39-55 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199701)34:1<39::AID-TEA4>3.0.CO;2-P
  4. Bentley, M., Ebert, C., & Ebert E. S. (2000). The natural investigator: A constructivist approach to teaching elementary and middle school science. Belmont: Wadsworth/ Thomson Learning
  5. Collins, S., Osborne, J., Ratcliffe, M., Millar, R., & Duschl, R. (2001). What 'idea-about-science' should be taught in school science? A Delphi study of the 'expert' community. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, March, 26-29, 2001, St Louis
  6. Glasson, G. E. & Bentley, M. L. (2000). Epistemological undercurrents in scientists' reporting of research to teachers. Science Education, 84, 469-485 https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-237X(200007)84:4<469::AID-SCE3>3.0.CO;2-Q
  7. Larochelle, M. & Desautels, J. (1991), 'Of course, it' s just obvious': Adolescents' ideas of scientific knowledge. International Journal of Science Education, 13(4), 373-389 https://doi.org/10.1080/0950069910130402
  8. Lederman, N G. (1999). Teachers' understanding of the nature of science and classroom practice: Factors that facilitate or impede the relationship. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(8), 916-929 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199910)36:8<916::AID-TEA2>3.0.CO;2-A
  9. Lederman, N. G., Abd-El-Khalick, F., Bell, R. L., & Schwartz, E. s. (2002). Views of nature of science questionnaire: Toward valid and meaningful assessment of learners' conceptions of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39(6), 497-521 https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.10034
  10. Matthews, M. R. (1998). In defence of modest goals when teaching about the nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 161-174 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199802)35:2<161::AID-TEA6>3.0.CO;2-Q
  11. McComas, W. F., & Olson, J. K. (1998). The nature of science in international science education standards documents. In W. F. McComas (Ed.), The nature of science in science education: Rationales and Strategies (pp. 41-52). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers
  12. Moss, D. M., Abrams, E. D. & Robb, J. (2001), Examining student conceptions of the nature of science. International Journal of Science Education, 23(8), 771-790 https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690010016030
  13. National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academic Press
  14. Nott, M. & Wellington, J. (1994). Science teachers, the nature of science, and the National Science Curriculum. In J. Wellington, J. Henderson, V. Lally, J. Scaife, S. Knutton, & M. Nott, Secondary science: Contemporary issues and practical approaches (pp. 32-43). New York: Routledge
  15. Rudolph, J. L. (2000). Reconsidering the 'nature of science' as a curriculum component. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 32(3), 403-419 https://doi.org/10.1080/002202700182628
  16. Ryan, A. G. & Aikenhead, G. S. (1992). Students' preconceptions about the epistemology of science. Science Education, 76(6), 559-580 https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730760602
  17. Ryder, J., Leach, J., & Driver, R. (1999). Undergraduate science students' image of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(2), 201-219 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199902)36:2<201::AID-TEA6>3.0.CO;2-H
  18. Ryder, J., Hind, A., & Leach, J. (2001). The design of materials and strategies for teaching about the epistemology of science. Paper presented at the European Science Education Research Association Conference, Thessaloniki, Greece, August 21-25, 2001
  19. Smith, M. U., Lederman, N. G., Bell, R. L., MaComas, W. F., & Clough, M. P. (1997). How great is the disagreement about the nature of science? A response to Alters, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34, 1101-1104 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199712)34:10<1101::AID-TEA8>3.0.CO;2-V
  20. Soh, W. J. (1998a). The effects of science teachers' philosophical views on science and science content describing styles on the changes of middle school students' view on science. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Korea National University of Education
  21. Soh, W. J. (1998b). Development of an instrument to assess secondary school students' conceptions of the nature of science. Journal of the Korean Association for Research in Science Education (JKARSE), 18(2), 127-136 (written in Korean with English abstract)