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Exploring science teachers' views about the nature of science and how these views influence their classroom practicesChuene, Karabo Justice January 2018 (has links)
Thesis (M. Ed. (Science Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / This study explored the science teachers' views about the nature of science and how
these views influenced their classroom. The study was conducted in three public
quantile-three schools in Dimamo Circuit of Capricorn District-Limpopo Province. It
was a case study with twenty participants filling the open-ended questionnaire with
four teachers who were observed and interviewed. The teachers were from the FET
band with teaching experience ranging between one year and thirty years.
The essential research questions addressed in this study are, namely: What are
science teachers’ views about the nature of science? How do the science teachers’
views about the nature of science influence their classroom practices?
Data were collected all the way through open-ended questionnaires, classroom
observations and semi-structured interviews. The data collected were analysed
through groups of themes. The four teachers observed and interviewed were
grouped as one case.
It was found that most of the teachers held informed views about the nature of
science from both data collected from the open-ended questionnaires and semi structured interviews. There was a group of teachers whose views about the nature
of science being tentative reflected uninformed views and the majority of teachers
revealing uninformed views about the difference between scientific law and scientific
theory. The teachers believed that theories develop into laws. There was also a
majority of teachers who believed that scientific investigation follows only one
universal route. It was also found that the same teachers who reflected informed
views were not able to back them in their classroom practices. The majority of those
teachers reflected no informed views in their classroom as such it was impossible to
tell how their views influenced their classroom practices.
KEY WORDS
Nature of science, Classroom practice, Scientific law, Tentative, Scientific theory
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Evolution/Creationism Controversy: Analysis of Past and Current Policies in Public Schools and the Practice of Allowing Students to Opt-Out of Learning Evolution ConceptsSpeake, Jacquelyn Hoffmann 01 January 2011 (has links)
Recent anti-evolution legislation, in the form of Academic Freedom bills, has been introduced in many state legislatures over the last three years. The language in the proposed Academic Freedom bills may allow different interpretations of what can be taught in the science classrooms, and possibly spur parents to take advantage of their perceived parental rights to request their child be opted-out of class when the scientific theory of evolution is taught. Five research questions guided the analysis of participant responses to questions and perception statements focusing on secondary school administrators' actions, perceptions, and awareness as they relate to their decision to allow or not allow a student to opt out of academics, specifically evolution, through the collection of data using a web-based survey. Opt out policies are typically invoked to excuse students from activities to which they or their parents may have religious objections (Scott & Branch, 2008). Florida statutes allow parents to opt out their child from human sexuality and animal dissection. The population consisted of 281 Florida public secondary school administrators, who were divided into two subgroups based on whether they have allowed or would allow a student to opt out of evolution, or have not allowed or would not allow a student to opt out of class when the scientific theory of evolution is taught. Results found that over 70% of the administrators who completed the survey have allowed or would allow parents to opt out their child from learning about the scientific theory of evolution. There was a significant relationship between the decision to allow opt out and the following variables: (a) Free and Reduced Lunch population, (b) grade level served, (c) support for teaching evolution and alternative theories, and (d) the perception that parent rights supersede state statute requiring students to learn evolution.
In Florida, any scientific concept that is based on empirical evidence is included in the state-mandated curriculum. If administrators are influenced to believe teachers have the academic freedom to teach alternative ideas that are not scientifically valid, they may be intentionally or unintentionaly allowing subject matter relevant to a student's academic success t to be suppressed or distorted, which is also a violation of state statute. The implications from this study indicated that many participants would allow a student to opt out of class when evolution is taught, including assigning an alternative assignment. Since the scientific theory of evolution is infused into the biological sciences, and therefore, the Florida State Standards for science, evolution concepts are assessed on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and the Biology End-of-Course exam. Allowing students to opt out of class when evolution is taught may have a negative impact on student success on state mandated assessments, which can directly impact school grades and state and federal funding that is tied to Adequate Yearly Progress.
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Um modelo híbrido baseado em ontologias e RBC para a concepção de um ambiente de descoberta que proporcione a aprendizagem de conceitos na formação de teorias por intermédio da metáfora de contos infantisPessôa Neto, Agnaldo Cavalcante de Albuquerque 11 December 2006 (has links)
The actual work shows a model of discovery learning in order to realize a discovery environment
(PARAGUAÇU, 1997) to demonstrate to the apprentice students in science, the understanding of how the
concepts that are used in the creation of scientific theories are related.
The subject is reached with the idea that is possible to create scientific theories in scientific models
(FRIGG; HARTMANN, 2006; RUDNER, 1969), and that these models can be used to help in such learning.
However, with the availability of such models, instead of introducing scientific terms related to some
scientific topics, it intends to use the metaphor of Fairy Tales, what means, the vocabulary use of terms
where the apprentice can understand by intuition on how a scientific theory is elaborated.
On the other hand, in order to create and formalize this scientific model it was created the idea that
was proposed by MIDES Architecture MIDES (PARAGUAÇU et al., 2003), which means the creation of
a scientific model with the representation in XML (W3SCHOOLS, 2005b) in four views of knowledge:
Hierarchy, Relational, Causal, and by Asking.
So, the idea of this work is to show how the creation in XML is made, and to do so, it s necessary
to make a review of the following subjects: learning environments; teaching based on cases; and some
general aspects of a creation of a scientific theory, and about the creation of a theory like an axiomatic
system, as well as to present the ideas for the elaboration of discovery learning models.
When this review is done, we have the necessary knowledge to propose an architecture able to
integrate two applications by the use of XML, that is, the first application is to a teacher s community
that elaborate theories in scientific models using the metaphor of the Fairy Tales, and the second one,
for students that desire to learn how the creation of a theory is made, by the use of models that were
introduced by the teacher s community. / O presente trabalho apresenta um modelo de aprendizagem por descoberta no âmbito de realização
de um ambiente de descoberta (PARAGUAÇU, 1997) para proporcionar a alunos aprendizes em ciência,
o entendimento de como os conceitos que são utilizados na formação de teorias científicas estão
relacionados.
O assunto é abordado com a suposição de que é possível formular teorias científicas em modelos
científicos (FRIGG; HARTMANN, 2006; RUDNER, 1969), e que estes modelos podem ser disponibilizados
para proporcionar tal aprendizagem.
Porém, com a disponibilidade de tais modelos, em vez de introduzir termos científicos relacionados
a alguma disciplina científica, pretende-se para tal realização utilizar a metáfora de contos infantis, ou
seja, utilizar um vocabulário de termos onde o aprendiz possa entender intuitivamente como é elaborada
uma teoria científica.
Por outro lado, para proporcionar a formalização deste modelo científico, foi adotada a idéia proposta
pela arquitetura MIDES (PARAGUAÇU et al., 2003), ou seja, a realização de um modelo científico
com uma representação em XML (W3SCHOOLS, 2005b), em quatro visões de conhecimento: hierárquica,
relacional, causal e de questionamento.
Sendo assim, pretende-se no decorrer deste trabalho mostrar como é realizada esta formalização em
XML e, para isso, é necessário revisar os seguintes assuntos: ambientes de aprendizagem; ontologias;
ensino baseado em casos; e alguns aspectos gerais sobre a elaboração de uma teoria científica e sobre
a formulação de uma teoria como um sistema axiomático, como também apresentar as idéias para a
elaboração de modelos de aprendizagem por descoberta.
Feita esta revisão, tem-se o embasamento necessário para propor uma arquitetura que possa integrar
duas aplicações por intermédio deste modelo XML, ou seja, a primeira aplicação serve para uma comunidade
de professores que elaboram teorias em modelos científicos, utilizando a metáfora de contos, e a
segunda, para alunos que desejam aprender como é realizada a formação de uma teoria, por intermédio
dos modelos que foram disponibilizados pela comunidade de professores.
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Paradigm development in Systematic TheologyLehmann, Lando Leonhardt 30 November 2004 (has links)
Systematic Theology, like all other disciplines, are subject to basic assumptions about its first principles, which is determinant for the way the discipline understands itself and does its work. The consequential perception the discipline has of knowledge acquisition and method of research in turn determines its interpretation of the knowledge acquired. The three areas of understanding (metaphysical assumptions, epistemological theories and ethical praxis) together form a cycle that builds the basis of a paradigm. Paradigms are continually present and are by nature developmental. The development from the macro-, to the messo-, and micro-levels in the structure of a paradigm is described through the three areas of understanding, providing a method for analysing paradigms. Using a developmental method of observation (affective awareness), analysis (ontological way of understanding), theorising (a different way of thinking) and application (ethical responsible living) suggests a fundamental reconsideration of the task of all disciplines, including systematic theology. / Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / M. Th.(Systematic Theology)
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Paradigm development in Systematic TheologyLehmann, Lando Leonhardt 30 November 2004 (has links)
Systematic Theology, like all other disciplines, are subject to basic assumptions about its first principles, which is determinant for the way the discipline understands itself and does its work. The consequential perception the discipline has of knowledge acquisition and method of research in turn determines its interpretation of the knowledge acquired. The three areas of understanding (metaphysical assumptions, epistemological theories and ethical praxis) together form a cycle that builds the basis of a paradigm. Paradigms are continually present and are by nature developmental. The development from the macro-, to the messo-, and micro-levels in the structure of a paradigm is described through the three areas of understanding, providing a method for analysing paradigms. Using a developmental method of observation (affective awareness), analysis (ontological way of understanding), theorising (a different way of thinking) and application (ethical responsible living) suggests a fundamental reconsideration of the task of all disciplines, including systematic theology. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M. Th.(Systematic Theology)
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The Darwinian revolution as a knowledge reorganizationZacharias, Sebastian 24 February 2015 (has links)
Die Dissertation leistet drei Beiträge zur Forschung: (1) Sie entwickelt ein neuartiges vierstufiges Modell wissenschaftlicher Theorien. Dieses Modell kombiniert logisch-empiristische Ansätze (Carnap, Popper, Frege) mit Konzepten von Metaphern & Narrativen (Wittgenstein, Burke, Morgan), erlaubt so deutlich präzisiere Beschreibungen wissenschaftlicher Theorien bereit und löst/mildert Widersprüche in logisch-empiristischen Modellen. (Realismus vs. Empirismus, analytische vs. synthetische Aussagen, Unterdeterminiertheit/ Holismus, wissenschaftliche Erklärungen, Demarkation) (2) Mit diesem Modell gelingt ein Reihenvergleich sechs biologischer Theorien von Lamarck (1809), über Cuvier (1811), Geoffroy St. Hilaire (1835), Chambers (1844-60), Owen (1848-68), Wallace (1855/8) zu Darwin (1859-1872). Dieser Vergleich offenbart eine interessante Asymmetrie: Vergleicht man Darwin mit je einem Vorgänger, so bestehen zahlreiche wichtige Unterschiede. Vergleicht man ihn mit fünf Vorgängern, verschwinden diese fast völlig: Darwins originärer Beitrag zur Revolution in der Biologie des 19.Jh ist klein und seine Antwort nur eine aus einer kontinuierlichen Serie auf die empirischen Herausforderungen durch Paläontologie & Biogeographie seit Ende des 18. Jh. (3) Eine gestufte Rezeptionsanalyse zeigt, warum wir dennoch von einer Darwinschen Revolution sprechen. Zuerst zeigt eine quantitative Analyse der fast 2.000 biologischen Artikel in Britannien zwischen 1858 und 1876, dass Darwinsche Konzepte zwar wichtige Neuerungen brachten, jedoch nicht singulär herausragen. Verlässt man die Biologie und schaut sich die Rezeption bei anderen Wissenschaftlern und gebildeten Laien an, wechselt das Bild: Je weiter man aus der Biologie heraustritt, desto weniger Ebenen biologischen Wissens kennen die Rezipienten und desto sichtbarer wird Darwins Beitrag. Schließlich findet sich sein Beitrag in den abstraktesten Ebenen des biologischen Wissens: in Narrativ und Weltbild – den Ebenen die Laien rezipieren. / The dissertation makes three contributions to research: (1) It develops a novel 4-level-model of scientific theories which combines logical-empirical ideas (Carnap, Popper, Frege) with concepts of metaphors & narratives (Wittgenstein, Burke, Morgan), providing a new powerful toolbox for the analysis & comparison of scientific theories and overcoming/softening contradictions in logical-empirical models. (realism vs. empiricism, analytic vs. synthetic statements, holism, theory-laden observations, scientific explanations, demarcation) (2) Based on this model, the dissertation compares six biological theories from Lamarck (1809), via Cuvier (1811), Geoffroy St. Hilaire (1835), Chambers (1844-60), Owen (1848-68), Wallace (1855/8) to Darwin (1859-1872) and reveals an interesting asymmetry: Compared to any one of his predecessors, Darwins theory appears very original, however, compared to all five predecessor theories, many of these differences disappear and it remains but a small original contribution by Darwin. Thus, Darwin’s is but one in a continuous series of responses to the challenges posed to biology by paleontology and biogeography since the end of the 18th century. (3) A 3-level reception analysis, finally, demonstrates why we speak of a Darwinian revolution nevertheless. (i) A quantitative analysis of nearly 2.000 biological articles reveals that Darwinian concepts where indeed an important theoretical innovation – but definitely not the most important of the time. (ii) When leaving the circle of biology and moving to scientists from other disciplines or educated laymen, the landscape changes. The further outside the biological community, the shallower the audience’s knowledge – and the more visible Darwin’s original contribution. After all, most of Darwin’s contribution can be found in the narrative and worldview of 19th century biology: the only level of knowledge which laymen receive.
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