Promoting Pre-service Teachers’ Ideas About Nature of Science Through Science-Related Media Reports

Abstract

Utilizing inquiry-based science teaching and learning (IBST/L) does not necessarily ensure learning of nature of science (NOS). Teachers who are trained to utilize IBST/L should also be concerned about their students’ understanding of NOS, because without explicit NOS teaching, students fail to grasp important characteristics of science even after a successful inquiry-based science learning experience. In this chapter, an innovative approach using science-related media reports is suggested as a tool for promoting pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) ideas about NOS. The promise of this approach is that using media reports as an instructional tool helps PSTs, and in turn helps their students, to become better informed and more discerning consumers of scientific information. This chapter contains resources and strategies to assist science teachers and teacher educators on the use of media reports of science in their classroom practices to enhance their students’ conceptions of NOS. The chapter also provides details of the formative assessment procedures used in this study as well as materials concerning science concepts and formative assessment as a support mechanism for learning.

Appendix 1: Example 4—Using Media News to Teach about Science Content and NOS

• The context: News article and a video clip

• News article: Finally, Element 117 Is Here! by Lauren Schenkman on 7 April 2010, Science Mag

• goo.gl/gzqgd3

• Video clip: Video Episode: “The Periodic Table: Mendeleev & Beyond” An interview with Dr. Eric Scerri of UCLA on the history and development of the periodic table.

• goo.gl/hp28XB

1.1 Aims

The aim of this activity is to bring contemporary science and cutting-edge science into the classroom and explore the periodic law and the structure of atom. This activity uses a news article as a context to discuss the nature of a scientific law and how science works. The news article is used as a starting point for the development of some scientific ideas in the classroom, including the periodic law and the structure of atom, which may help PSTs to understand the principles behind the periodic table. The following sections consider the use of news articles for supporting the learning of science subject matter knowledge and describe how a news article can be integrated into the science/chemistry curriculum.

Teaching Goals (Nature of Science)

A set of teaching goals are formulated to specify more directly the nature of the pedagogical interventions to be taken by the teacher. Some of these teaching goals are conceptual but some others are epistemological (Leach & Scott, 2002). These specific teaching goals can provide a much more fine-grained analysis of learning points that need to be addressed by the teacher (Leach & Scott, 2002).

This activity can be used to emphasize the following NOS tenets:

• Scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence (NOS-2, see the text).

• Scientific knowledge is partly the product of human inference, imagination and creativity (involves invention of theories and laws) (NOS-5).

• Scientific theories and laws are different kinds of knowledge and serve different functions and that one does not become the other. Generally speaking, theories are inferred explanations for observable phenomena, whereas laws are general descriptions of the relationships among observable phenomena (Lederman & Abd-El-Khalick, 1998). New evidence supports or disproves a scientific law. As evident in the news article, new research evidence supports the periodic law (NOS-8).

The following ideas may also be emphasized:

• A theory or law should lead to predictions that are precise and detailed enough for it to be possible that it can be shown to be false (AQA, 2010). A theory or law is “scientific” only if it is, among other things, falsifiable, and it is “non-scientific” if it does not make any predictions that could possibly be falsified (Popper, 1959).

• Classification is an important aspect of science. However, Mendeleev contributed to science much more than mere classification; he used his classification scheme (periodic table) to predict the existence of as-yet-undiscovered elements and predicted their properties. The periodic law allowed him to predict undiscovered elements’ properties by averaging the characteristics of other elements in the same group.

Teaching Goals (the Science)

This activity may be used to open up PSTs’ own ideas about atoms, elements, the periodic law and structure of an atom and also to introduce and support the development of the ideas related to the periodic table, such as:

• The periodic table itself is a visual representation of the periodic law, which states, “The properties of chemical elements are a periodic function of their atomic numbers”.

Certain properties of elements repeat periodically when arranged by atomic number.

Teaching Points and Possible Teaching Sequence

The PSTs will need to have some understanding of concepts such as atoms, elements, molecules and chemical reactions. The teacher may need to encourage the students to use a textbook if they are having difficulty with the definitions of these concepts. It might be worthwhile to spend some time introducing these concepts. The following teaching sequence is provided as a suggestion for teachers:

• 1. Distribute the news article to the students and ask students to read the article on their own or alternatively ask a student to read it aloud.

• 2. During this activity encourage students to comment on the article.

• 3. Ask students to work in groups to analyse the news article similar to the way described below.

• 4. After students complete the analysis, a classroom discussion may follow regarding the characteristics of science (NOS tenets) seen in the news.

• 5. It may not be sufficient just to give students science-related news articles to discuss; the teacher may also need to mediate students’ understanding and explicitly address NOS tenets wherever appropriate during the discussion.

• 6. After the discussion, NOS tenets that clearly stand out in the news should be explicitly emphasized to the class.

• 7. Introduce the periodic law and give information on the development of this law by Dimitri Mendeleev. A book chapter of Niaz (2008) would be useful to facilitate students’ understanding with respect to how scientific progress is laden with controversies, contradictions and alternative interpretations.

• 8. An interview with Prof. Eric Scerri of University of California, Los Angeles, on the history and the development of the periodic table can be shown to students to reinforce their understanding of the periodic law. Alternatively, students can watch these resources after the class.

  These short video clips are available at: http://elementsunearthed.com/video-episodes

  • In the first part of this video, Prof. Scerri discusses why the periodic table is the central organizing chart of chemistry and how chemists in the early nineteenth century began to organize elements in tables based on atomic weights and properties using the idea of triads. He also discusses Prout’s law and the events leading up to the Karlsruhe conference in 1860, a watershed event which led directly to the development of the periodic system. Scientists who developed periodic systems before Dimitri Mendeleev and the reasons for the success of Mendeleev’s system are also discussed in this video.

  • In the second part of this video, Prof. Scerri discusses how Dimitri Mendeleev developed his periodic system in 1869 while working on a textbook of inorganic chemistry and how he went on to publish the table and defend it, making bold predictions about missing elements and accommodating over 60 known elements by both atomic weight and chemical properties. His successors continued to revise the table and the discoveries of subatomic physics and quantum mechanics and finally explained the table’s structure and the periodic law. He discusses how the discoveries of modern physics such as subatomic particles and quantum mechanics helped us to understand the structure of the periodic table and the properties of the elements. He also discusses whether the periodic table can be derived solely from quantum mechanics and some of the anomalies that remain to be solved, such as the disputed placement of hydrogen and helium in the periodic table and the mysterious Knight’s Move pattern.

• 9. Conclude that theories and laws are different kinds of knowledge and one does not become the other.

You may also introduce the following web page and suggest students to explore the web page and periodic table. This site is available with several language options, which can be chosen on the right site of the menu: http://www.ptable.com/

1.2 Analysing Media Reports of Scientific Research

The news article in this activity is analysed based on the analysis scheme explained in Cakmakci and Yalaki (2011). Please note that it is important to answer the questions in this analysis by referring to the news and/or other sources, even by providing excerpts from the news if necessary. Short answers without detail (such as Yes or No) or without evidence from the news or other sources are discouraged for the sake of argumentation.

Surface Analysis of the News

• (a) Do the title, picture and content correlate?

  The picture shows the berkelium produced to make the element 117, which is consistent with the news.

• (b) Where is the news published or broadcasted?

  The news is published at the Science Now website.

• (c) Is the source reliable?

  Science Now is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) a well-known and trusted institution in the USA.

• (d) What is the circulation rate of the source?

  No specific information is available; however, Science magazine and the related websites, including Science Now, are well-known and followed publications.

• (e) Who wrote the news? Can the original source of the story be identified?

  The news is reported by Lauren Schenkman, who has a bachelor’s degree in physics and creative writing from the University of Southern California. The research reported in the news appears in Physical Review Letters.

• (f) Are the results of the scientific research published anywhere else?

  It is mentioned in the news that the results of the study are published in Physical Review Letters.

• (g) Is there a profit relationship between people and institutions?

  This question cannot be judged from the news.

• (h) Who did the research? Who gives their views and how are the scientists involved in the news portrayed? Does the reporter use direct or indirect quotation?

  An international team of scientists from Russia and the USA did the research. The team included scientists from the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (JINR) (Dubna, Russia), the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Russia’s Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad. During this activity, it can be explicitly mentioned that scientists usually work in groups. It was evident in the news that researchers from different countries worked collaboratively to address scientific challenges. The reporter often used direct quotation of scientists’ views on the research. A team member Krzysztof Rykaczewski, a nuclear physicist at Oak Ridge, and a nuclear physicist Konrad Gelbke, director of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University in East Lansing, can be named.

• (i) Are the institutions mentioned in the news reliable?

  The institutions mentioned in the news include Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (JINR), Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, Russia’s Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad and National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University, which seem to be reliable institutions.

• (j) Is there a profit relationship between people and institutions?

  This question cannot be judged from the news.

By doing this surface analysis, a certain level of trust to the news is established. Now the next phase of the analysis can begin. It should be noted that these questions do not need to be followed strictly, one after another. Rather, these questions are provided as suggestions and students may be allowed to raise and discuss whatever aspects of science and NOS they feel relevant.

Analysis of the News in Relation to NOS Tenets

• (a) What are the scientific claims in the news?

  It is claimed that the element with atomic number 117 is observed.

• (b) What are the evidences that support the claims?

  In the news, it is mentioned that scientist bombarded a sample of berkelium with calcium 48 ion for 5 months and recorded the events with detectors and eventually they managed to identify events that provided evidence for the appearance of the element 117. [Using this example, it can be emphasized that scientific knowledge is empirically based (NOS-2).]

• (c) Are scientific hypotheses, theories or laws mentioned implicitly or explicitly in the news?

  The periodic law is implicitly mentioned in the news, which can also be used to explain the different functions of theory and law in science (NOS-8).

• (d) Is there information about the scientific methods used in the investigation?

  In the news, the procedure that was used in the research is explained, and it is mentioned how the researchers empirically tested their ideas (see paragraphs 1–4 in the news). Using this news, it can also be suggested that scientific knowledge may change in the sense of adding new knowledge to current knowledge (accumulative, evolutionary change). As evident in the news article, new research evidence supports the existing thinking of science (i.e. the periodic law and the notion of the “island of stability”) (NOS-1).

It’s taken years, but physicists have finally filled in a persistent gap in the periodic table. Eight years after the creation of element 118, the heaviest known atom, researchers have made a few atoms of its slightly lighter neighbor, element 117, by shooting an intense beam of calcium ions into a target of berkelium. Besides sketching in the blank space in the table, the discovery bolsters the notion of an “island of stability”, a group of superheavy nuclei still tantalizingly out of reach that theorists predict may be as stable as more familiar elements.

…Experimentally, it’s an enormous tour de force”, says nuclear physicist Konrad Gelbke, director of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University in East Lansing. What’s more, “they’re developing a picture that’s starting to make a lot of sense.” Like sailing expeditions of old, the findings are solidifying the existence of an island of stability, made possible through the detailed interactions of neutrons and protons inside the nucleus, he says. “This is decades of very careful and painstaking work that is slowly coming to fruition”.

• (e) Is there information about the subjects of the investigation?

  The subjects of the investigation are various elements.

• (f) Is there evidence of a change (or possibility of change) in scientific knowledge?

  This news provides a good example of accumulative change in scientific knowledge. It is mentioned in the news that “It’s taken years, but physicists have finally filled in a persistent gap in the periodic table. Eight years after the creation of element 118, the heaviest known atom, researchers have made a few atoms of its slightly lighter neighbour, element 117, by shooting an intense beam of calcium ions into a target of berkelium”. It is also mentioned that “making element 117 presented a particular challenge”, but scientists managed it with a tremendous amount of work.

• (g) What are the observations and the corresponding logical deductions?

  Scientists observed the events as a result of calcium atoms smashing into berkelium atoms with detectors. From the observed events, they deduced that six atoms of element 117 formed.

• (h) Is there evidence of subjectivity among scientists regarding the conclusions of the investigation?

  No such evidence is provided in the news.

• (i) Does the scientific investigation include creativity and imagination?

  The tremendous amount of work and sequence of events explained in the news to synthesize the element 117 presumably include creativity and imagination (NOS-5).

• (j) Is there evidence of scientific knowledge being influenced by the social and cultural environment?

  This news is an example of an international teamwork among scientists, which is an indication of the social structure of scientific investigation.

• (k) Is there evidence of different scientific methods used for the same investigation?

  As explained above, many different methods were used to achieve the goal of synthesizing the element 117, which can be given as an example that there is no single scientific method (NOS-3).

• (l) What does this research offer to science and society?

  The discovery of element 117 provides strong evidence for the existence of the island of stability. Discovery of new elements expands the understanding of the universe, provides important tests of nuclear theories and supports the periodic law. This new discoveries may also trigger other discoveries.

• Analysis of the News in Relation to Science Concepts and Curriculum

This news article can be used as a context to teach scientific concepts related to periodic table and the periodic law. However, in more advanced physics or chemistry courses, ideas such as the island of stability could also be introduced.

1.3 What Science Says?

In 1871, the Russian chemist Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834–1907) proposed the periodic law. Mendeleev arranged the elements in order of increasing relative atomic mass, and his periodic law stated that “the properties of the elements are a periodic function of their relative atomic masses”. While constructing this table, Mendeleev found that there were not enough elements (at that time about 60 elements were known) to fill all the available space in each horizontal row or period. He assumed that eventually these elements would be discovered in the future. Therefore, he left blank spaces for undiscovered elements and predicted their properties by averaging the characteristics of other elements in the same group. While Mendeleev’s periodic law allowed him to predict the behaviour of elements, this law does not explain why it happened. There seems to be considerable controversy among philosophers of science with respect to the nature of Mendeleev’s periodic law (Niaz, 2008). For instance, Niaz, Rodrguez, and Brito (2004) argue, “despite Mendeleev’s own ambivalence , periodicity of properties of chemical elements in the periodic table can be attributed to the atomic theory…. Mendeleev’s contribution can be considered as an ‘interpretative’ theory which became ‘explanatory’ after the periodic table was based on atomic numbers”. Scerri and Worrall (2001) claim, “the Periodic Table is patently not itself a theory and therefore does not in itself have any logical consequences . Mendeleev saw his Table (indeed, significantly, Tables—he produced a total of sixty-five different ones through the course of his career) as embodying, or as underpinned by, something he called the ‘periodic law’”. Molecular orbital theory and theories in quantum mechanics offer possible explanations for such behaviours (Scerri, 2006). Mendeleev’s periodic law is modified by these theories, and the modern form of the periodic law states that “the properties of chemical elements are a periodic function of their atomic numbers”. Certain properties of elements repeat periodically when arranged by atomic number. For example, progressing from left to right across the modern periodic table (wide form), certain properties of the elements approximate those of precursors at regular intervals of 2, 8, 18 and 32. For example, the 2nd element (helium) is similar in its chemical behaviour to the 10th (neon), as well as to the 18th (argon), the 36th (krypton), the 54th (xenon) and the 86th (radon) (see the extreme right column in the modern periodic table-wide form). The chemical family called the halogens, composed of elements fluorine (atomic number = 9), chlorine (17), bromine (35), iodine (53) and astatine (85), and finally ununseptium, element 177 (177), is an extremely reactive family.

Concluding Remarks

This news article can be used as a context to teach different scientific concepts and aspects of NOS ; however, we used the news as a starting point to introduce and discuss ideas about periodic table and the periodic law. This activity can also be used in a chemistry lesson while teaching about the periodic table. A book chapter on the periodic table written by Niaz (2008) can give the reader some thought-provoking ideas.