Thesis (MFA)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2009. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Phil Savoie. Disturbance is a DVD accompanying the thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 26-29).

This is a study of how a teacher's understanding of the nature of science (NOS) correlates to student understanding of the nature of science. Participants are in semester long seventh grade science classes in a suburban school district. Seven strands of the nature of science were identified in the literature. Four strands were analyzed in this study. Teachers were ranked according to their understanding of the nature of science and compared to their corresponding students' average gain. There was no definitive pattern between the teacher's and corresponding students' gain. When broken down by strand, there still was no definitive pattern between teacher's rank and their students' average gain. Teaching experience varied and provided significant differences between experience groups. Two student ethnic groups produced significant negative overall gains. Only two student ethnic groups showed positive overall gains; however, they were insignificant. Students who reported to enjoy science showed a higher understanding of NOS than those who reported to not enjoy science.

Teaching students about the nature of science is an important and necessary part of secondary science curricula. The Utah State Office of Education has provided specific guidelines called intended learning outcomes (ILOs) to teachers in the state. The ILOs are based on the national standards presented in the Project 2061 publications of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1990 and 1993. The ILOs are not tied to any one scientific discipline such as biology or chemistry, but are intended as global statements describing what scientists do and how scientific knowledge is gained. ILO 6 prescribes that students be taught about the nature of scientific inquiry and the nature of the resulting knowledge claims. State education officials currently assess knowledge of the ILOs through items which are embedded in content-specific, multiple-choice items. This practice confounds knowledge of the nature of science with the content knowledge from a particular course. This project describes the development of an instrument to assess high school students' knowledge of the nature of science separate from their knowledge of any particular scientific discipline. The resulting questionnaire largely meets its intended goal, but still needs improvement. The current questionnaire has 24 items with an internal consistency reliability estimate of .74. Students participating in the pilot administration may have exhibited some apathy which may have affected the reliability estimate obtained from their responses. Factors such as this may help explain the low internal consistency reliability estimate of this questionnaire and will make the validity of the questionnaire difficult to demonstrate. In spite of this and other shortcomings, the questionnaire may still be useful to secondary science teachers to gain an understanding of their students' knowledge about the nature of science. Based on this knowledge, teachers may be able to design specific instruction to teach students correct knowledge about the nature of science. Since internal consistency reliability estimates are low, the validity of this questionnaire is tenuous. Therefore, caution should be exercised in making judgments about students that would affect measures of academic performance.

<p>Syftet med vår studie var att bedöma om det fanns någon skillnad mellan gymnasieelever årskurs 3 på naturvetenskaplig inriktning och samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning i medvetenhet om vetenskapsteoretiska begrepp och samband. För att få svar på detta har vi intervjuat 19 elever från vardera inriktning med frågor som rör det vetenskapsteoretiska perspektivet. Frågorna har utformats för att få en förståelse av elevernas medvetenhet om vad som karakteriserar naturvetenskapen på det teoretiska planet, naturvetenskapliga experiment, lagar och teorier, forskares del av naturvetenskapen och elevernas förståelse av kausala samband. Strävansmål och mål att uppnå från kursplanen för Naturkunskap A och B har också de en grund till frågornas utformning. Vi har valt att göra en kvalitativ insamling av data via elevintervjuer, som därefter har analyserats kvantitativt. Resultaten visade en skillnad angående elevernas medvetenhet om vetenskapsteori, där naturvetarna överlag hade större medvetenhet. Även om det inom båda grupperna fanns elever med god medvetenhet, fanns det brister bland både natur och samhällsvetare. Det var främst att förklara experiment, förklara vad en naturvetenskaplig teori och vad en naturvetenskaplig lag är samt inse skillnaden mellan dessa som vållade problem. Detta kan vara en brist från grundskolan, där tidigare undersökningar visat att just detta har låg prioritet bland lärarna. Den undersökningen har även visat att lärarna inte hinner med att utföra de mål de önskar göra. Av denna studie anser vi oss fått god hjälp att veta vilka vetenskapsteoretiska samband elever finner är svårt, och har då möjlighet att lägga extra tonvikt på detta i vårt kommande yrkesutövande.</p>

Syftet med vår studie var att bedöma om det fanns någon skillnad mellan gymnasieelever årskurs 3 på naturvetenskaplig inriktning och samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning i medvetenhet om vetenskapsteoretiska begrepp och samband. För att få svar på detta har vi intervjuat 19 elever från vardera inriktning med frågor som rör det vetenskapsteoretiska perspektivet. Frågorna har utformats för att få en förståelse av elevernas medvetenhet om vad som karakteriserar naturvetenskapen på det teoretiska planet, naturvetenskapliga experiment, lagar och teorier, forskares del av naturvetenskapen och elevernas förståelse av kausala samband. Strävansmål och mål att uppnå från kursplanen för Naturkunskap A och B har också de en grund till frågornas utformning. Vi har valt att göra en kvalitativ insamling av data via elevintervjuer, som därefter har analyserats kvantitativt. Resultaten visade en skillnad angående elevernas medvetenhet om vetenskapsteori, där naturvetarna överlag hade större medvetenhet. Även om det inom båda grupperna fanns elever med god medvetenhet, fanns det brister bland både natur och samhällsvetare. Det var främst att förklara experiment, förklara vad en naturvetenskaplig teori och vad en naturvetenskaplig lag är samt inse skillnaden mellan dessa som vållade problem. Detta kan vara en brist från grundskolan, där tidigare undersökningar visat att just detta har låg prioritet bland lärarna. Den undersökningen har även visat att lärarna inte hinner med att utföra de mål de önskar göra. Av denna studie anser vi oss fått god hjälp att veta vilka vetenskapsteoretiska samband elever finner är svårt, och har då möjlighet att lägga extra tonvikt på detta i vårt kommande yrkesutövande.

The objective of this research is to discuss the scientific story intergrated in science curriculum about the students¡¦ attitude towards science and conceptions of the nature of science . This research made use of the Static-group comparison design method for use in quasi-experimental research. The first step was to collect the related scientific background and a scientists¡¦ information, and then create a fictitious story according to the situation in an experimental teaching process, and finally issue a questionnaire in order to understand the students¡¦ experience and conviction. Our research samples were 4 grade 5 classes from a school in Kaohsiung, selected as our test group. Our control groups were 5 classes chosen from another school in Kaohsiung City. We made use of both quantitative and qualitative analysis to collect the data and analyze the information, and the research included the original Questionnaire on the nature of science, Questionnaire on learning science, and an interview information sheet. The questionnaire on the nature of science was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the t-test to obtain a quantitative analysis. The questionnaire on learning science uses percentiles and inductive analysis to obtain a quantitative analysis, with an interview providing qualitative information. The research results indicated that the students enjoyed the fictitious story curriculum, and especially enjoyed hearing about the scientists¡¦ background, as the students believed the stories could assist them in their learning. The students¡¦ attitudes were found to be positive, as the stories were thought to assist them in their learning. Thus, the students were highly interested in the curriculum, though the attitude towards the image of the scientists was not as positive, as was their attitude towards science career planning. On the point of the nature of science, students in the test group were modern minded, and the test group achieved more than the control group. On the quantity and quality of the students¡¦ knowledge, there were significant differences between the test group and the control group. Therefore, the recommendation of this research is that teachers, if interested in this teaching approach, should attempt to collect information on the scientists and their backgrounds. Also, the history of science should be taught to training teachers during their teaching training program. This will assist the teacher in becoming an effective aid towards the students learning of science.

This study was designed to explore pupils¡¦ argumentation ability and understanding about the nature of science during the argumentation activities. The method of quasi-experiment with non-equivalent group pretest-posttest design was employed. One class of 5th graders (N=22) was selected as the experimental group with 8-week argumentation instruction, and the other class (N=22) with the similar backgrounds taught with traditional instruction was served as the control group. The instruments of Argumentation Ability Test and Nature of Science (NOS) questionnaire were used in pre- and post-tests. The result indicated that the experimental group students outperform their counterparts in argumentation ability. However, there is no significant difference between the two groups on their understanding about the nature of science. Further analysis reveals that the experimental students with contemporary view of NOS make progress differently from those who are with traditional view of NOS.

Despite the wide-spread acceptance of evolution within the science community, much of the public still holds reservations about evolution as a valid scientific explanation. This is due in part to questions regarding the very nature of a theory, which has been cited by many researchers as an obstacle to accepting evolution. The specific use of semi-structured interviews and research into how students view other nature of science terminology (fact, hypothesis, and law) in relation to theory may provide further insight into how use of the terms can frame attitudes towards evolution. This study qualitatively describes how four college-aged students (science, philosophy, education, and business) interpret basic science terminology and compare scientific explanations in their assessment of evolution. While discussing the terms, students were encouraged to raise other issues that aided them in the construction of their epistemological beliefs about science. The aim was to provide interviewees with the opportunity to speak openly about what they understood regarding nature of science and evolution rather than presuming a shared coherence in the use of the terms. The semi-structured interview format revealed students’ conceptions (or misconceptions) of the nature of science, relative degrees of certainty for the terms, and underlying biases. The results suggest the specific use of interviews can provide a credible and informative account of how students use basic science terminology. A mixed use of the terms can still lead to a favorable disposition towards evolution when students possess a positive attitude towards science, acknowledge the tentative nature of science as a strength rather than a limitation, and practice reflective reasoning. Conclusions made in the study also suggest that an explicit discussion about fact, theory, law, and hypothesis in the science classroom may actually play less of a critical role than previously thought in opening the door to learning content of which many people consider to be controversial. More concentration should be placed on how knowledge is generated and how to reflectively approach a scientific problem. / text

abstract: ABSTRACT Research has shown that students from elementary school to college have major misconceptions about the nature of science. While an appropriate understanding of the nature of science has been an objective of science education for a century, researchers using a variety of instruments, continue to document students' inadequate conceptions of what science is and how it operates as an enterprise. Current research involves methods to improve student understanding of the nature of science. Students often misunderstand the creative, subjective, empirical, and tentative nature of science. They do not realize the relationship between laws and theories, nor do they understand that science does not follow a prescribed method. Many do not appreciate the influence culture, society, and politics; nor do they have an accurate understanding of the types of questions addressed by science. This study looks at student understanding of key nature of science (NOS) concepts in order to examine the impact of implementing activities intended to help students better understand the process of science and to see if discussion of key NOS concepts following those activities will result in greater gains in NOS understanding. One class received an "activities only" treatment, while the other participated in the same activities followed by explicit discussion of key NOS themes relating to the activity. The interventions were implemented for one school year in two high school anatomy and physiology courses composed of juniors and seniors. Student views of the nature of science were measured using the Views of the Nature of Science - Form C (VNOS-C). Students in both classes demonstrated significant gains in NOS understanding. However, contrary to current research, the addition of explicit discussion did not result in significantly greater gains in NOS understanding. This suggests that perhaps students in higher-level science classes can draw the correlations between NOS related activities and important aspects of "real" science. Or perhaps that a curriculum with a varied approach my expose students to more aspects of science thus improving their NOS understanding. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Curriculum and Instruction 2010

abstract: The nature of science (NOS) is included in the National Science Education Standards and is described as a critical component in the development of scientifically literate students. Despite the significance of NOS in science education reform, research shows that many students continue to possess naïve views of NOS. Explicit and reflective discussion as an instructional approach is relatively new in the field of research in NOS. When compared to other approaches, explicit instruction has been identified as more effective in promoting informed views of NOS, but gaps in student understanding still exist. The purpose of this study was to deepen the understanding of student learning of NOS through the investigation of two variations of explicit instruction. The subjects of the study were two seventh grade classes taught by the same classroom teacher. One class received explicit instruction of NOS within a plate tectonics unit and the second class received explicit instruction of NOS within a plate tectonics unit plus supporting activities focused on specific aspects of NOS. The instruction time for both classes was equalized and took place over a three week time period. The intention of this study was to see if the additional NOS activities helped students build a deeper understanding of NOS, or if a deep understanding could be formed solely through explicit and reflective discussion within content instruction. The results of the study showed that both classes progressed in their understanding of NOS. When the results of the two groups were compared, the group with the additional activities showed statistically significant gains on two of the four aspects of NOS assessed. These results suggest that the activities may have been valuable in promoting informed views, but more research is needed in this area. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Curriculum and Instruction 2011