Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Nature of Science in Science Education: Toward a Coherent Framework for Synergistic Research and Development

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Second International Handbook of Science Education

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE,volume 24))

Abstract

Making headway with the crucial domain of teaching and learning about nature of science (NOS) in precollege science education necessitates synergistic, long-term research and development efforts. While these efforts should be pluralistic rather than single-minded, they nonetheless need to draw on a coherent broad framework. Such a framework has been, and continues to be, wanting because of a lack of clarity about the nature of the construct of NOS. In particular, discourse, research, and development related to NOS have been guided by two broad, mostly confounded, perspectives which I label here as the “lived” and “reflective” perspectives on NOS. The result has been bifurcated research and development efforts that, at best, lack synergy and, at worst, seriously hamper progress within the field. This chapter explicates the assumptions underlying the two perspectives, and examines their implications for research and development efforts related to teaching and learning about, as well as assessing conceptions of, NOS. In so doing, the chapter takes a significant step toward outlining a framework that could foster synergy within the field and help advance both research and development efforts related to NOS in science education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 429.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2001). Embedding nature of science instruction in preservice elementary science courses: Abandoning scientism, but… Journal of Science Teacher Education, 12, 215–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2005). Developing deeper understandings of nature of science: The impact of a philosophy of science course on preservice science teachers’ views and instructional planning. International Journal of Science Education, 27, 15–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2008). Modeling science classrooms after scientific laboratories: Sketching some affordances and constraints drawn from examining underlying assumptions. In R. A. Duschl & R. E. Grandy (Eds.), Teaching scientific inquiry: Recommendations for research and application (pp. 80–85). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abd-El-Khalick, F., & Akerson, V. L. (2004). Learning about nature of science as conceptual change: Factors that mediate the development of preservice elementary teachers’ views of nature of science. Science Education, 88, 785–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abd-El-Khalick, F., Bell, R. L., & Lederman, N. G. (1998). The nature of science and instructional practice: Making the unnatural natural. Science Education, 82, 417–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abd-El-Khalick, F., BouJaoude, S., Duschl, R. A., Hofstein, A., Lederman, N. G., Mamlok, R., et al. (2004). Inquiry in science education: International perspectives. Science Education, 88, 397–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abd-El-Khalick, F., & Lederman, N. G. (2000). Improving science teachers’ conceptions of the nature of science: A critical review of the literature. International Journal of Science Education, 22, 665–701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abd-El-Khalick, F., Waters, M., & Le, A. (2008). Representation of nature of science in high school chemistry textbooks over the past four decades. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45, 835–855.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akindehin, F. (1988). Effect of an instructional package on preservice science teachers’ understanding of the nature of science and acquisition of science-related attitudes. Science Education, 72, 73–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aikenhead, G. (1988). An analysis of four ways of assessing student beliefs about STS topics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 25, 607–629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aikenhead, G. S., & Jegede, O. J. (1999). Cross-cultural science education: A cognitive explanation of a cultural phenomenon. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36, 269–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alters, B. J. (1997). Whose nature of science? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34, 39–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). (1990). Science for all Americans. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atwater, M. (1993). Multicultural science education: Science for all cultures. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barufaldi, J. P., Bethel, L. J., & Lamb, W. G. (1977). The effect of a science methods course on the philosophical view of science among elementary education majors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 14, 289–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer, H. H. (1994). Scientific literacy and the myth of the scientific method. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. R. (1998). Explaining the success of science. In M. Curd & J. A. Cover (Eds.), Philosophy of science: The central issues (pp. 1136–1152). New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burbules, N., & Linn, M. C. (1991). Science education and philosophy of science: Congruence or contradiction? International Journal of Science Education, 13, 227–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobern, W. W. (1996). Worldview theory and conceptual change in science education. Science Education, 80, 579–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobern, W., & Loving, C. C. (2000). Defining “science” in a multicultural world: Implications for science education. Science Education, 85, 50–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, V. B. (1995). When science is “another world”: Relationships between worlds of family, friends, school, and science. Science Education, 79, 313–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dogan, N., & Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2008). Turkish grade 10 students’ and science teachers’ conceptions of nature of science: A national study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45, 1083–1112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driver, R., Leach, J., Millar, R., & Scott, P. (1996). Young people’s images of science. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duhem, P. (1954). The aim and structure of physical theory (P. P. Wiener, Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1904–1905)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillies, D. (1998). Philosophy of science in the twentieth century: Four central themes. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haukoos, G. D., & Penick, J. E. (1983). The influence of classroom climate on science process and content achievement of community college students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20, 629–637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ibrahim, B., Buffler, A., & Lubben, F. (2009). Profiles of freshman physics students’ views on the nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46, 248–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang, S., Scharmann, L. C., & Noh, T. (2005). Examining students’ views on the nature of science: Results from Korean 6th, 8th, and 10th graders. Science Education, 89, 314–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J., Chen, C., & Crawford, T. (1998). Methodological considerations for studying science-in-the-making in educational settings. Research in Science Education, 28, 23–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J., & Duschl, R. A. (2002, April). Toward a research agenda for epistemological studies in science education, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, New Orleans, LA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khishfe, R. (2008). The development of seventh graders’ views of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45, 470–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khishfe, R., & Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2002). The influence of explicit reflective versus implicit inquiry-oriented instruction on sixth graders’ views of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 551–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leach, J., Millar, R., Ryder, J., & Séré, M.-G. (2000). Epistemological understanding in science learning: the consistency of representations across contexts. Learning and Instruction, 10, 497–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, N. G. (1992). Students’ and teachers’ conceptions of the nature of science: A review of the research. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29, 331–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, N. G., Abd-El-Khalick, F., Bell, R. L., & Schwartz, R. (2002). Views of nature of science questionnaire (VNOS): Toward valid and meaningful assessment of learners’ conceptions of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 497–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lederman, N. G., Wade, P. D., & Bell, R. L. (1998). Assessing understanding of the nature of science: A historical perspective. In W. McComas (Ed.), The nature of science and science education: Rationales and strategies (pp. 331–350). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longino, H. (1990). Science as social knowledge: Values and objectivity in scientific inquiry. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loving, C. C. (1997). From the summit of truth to its slippery slopes: science education’s journey through positivist-postmodern territory. American Educational Research Journal, 34, 421–452.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medawar, P. (1969). Induction and intuition in scientific thought. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • McComas, W. F. (1993, April). The effects of an intensive summer laboratory internship on secondary students’ understanding of the NOS as measured by the test on understanding of science (TOUS). Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Atlanta, GA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meichtry, Y. J. (1993). The impact of science curricula on student views about the nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 30, 429–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millar, R., & Osborne, J. (Eds.).(1998). Beyond 2000: Science education for the future. London: King’s College.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musgrave, A. (1998). Realism versus constructive empiricism. In M. Curd & J. A. Cover (Eds.), Philosophy of science: The central issues (pp. 1088–1113). New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Academy of Sciences. (1998). Teaching about evolution and the nature of science. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, M. J. (1996). Before big science: The pursuit of modern chemistry and physics, 1800–1940. New York: Twayne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, J., Collins, S., Ratcliffe, M., Millar, R., & Duschl, R. (2003). What “ideas-about-science” should be taught in school science? A Delphi study of the expert community. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40, 692–720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, J. S., Strozak, V. S., & Wistrom, C. (1997). Chemistry concepts and applications. New York: Glencoe/McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomeroy, D. (1993). Implications of teachers’ beliefs about the nature of science: Comparison of the beliefs of scientists, secondary science teachers, and elementary teachers. Science Education, 77, 261–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J. T. (1965). Science teaching and the nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 3, 37–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, R. S., Lederman, N. G., & Crawford, B. A. (2004). Developing views of nature of science in an authentic context: An explicit approach to bridging the gap between nature of science and scientific inquiry. Science Education, 88, 610–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. U., Lederman, N. G., Bell, R. L., McComas, 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, 1101–1103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamir, P. (1972). Understanding the process of science by students exposed to different science curricula in Israel. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 9, 239–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Fraassen, B. C. (1998). Arguments concerning scientific realism. In M. Curd & J. A. Cover (Eds.), Philosophy of science: The central issues (pp. 1064–1087). New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinberg, S. (2001). Facing up: Science and its cultural adversaries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, L. (1954). A study of opinions related to the nature of science and its purpose in society. Science Education, 38, 159–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yore, L. D., Hand, B. M., & Florence, M. K. (2004). Scientists’ views of science, models of writing, and science writing practices. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41, 338–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

    Fouad Abd-El-Khalick

Authors
  1. Fouad Abd-El-Khalick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fouad Abd-El-Khalick .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Science & Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Barry J. Fraser

  2. The Graduate Centre, City University of New York, New York, 10016-4309, New York, USA

    Kenneth Tobin

  3. Ctr. Mathematics & Science Education, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Rd., Kelvin Grove, 4059, Queensland, Australia

    Campbell J. McRobbie

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2012). Nature of Science in Science Education: Toward a Coherent Framework for Synergistic Research and Development. In: Fraser, B., Tobin, K., McRobbie, C. (eds) Second International Handbook of Science Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9041-7_69

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation