Abstract
This study was grounded on the ultimate goal of science education in Malaysia, which is to produce individuals who are scientifically literate. The study specifically aimed to probe how science learners conceptualize the relationship between scientific theory and law. Guided by the phenomenographic structure of awareness as the methodological framework, this study involved interviewing 10 Secondary Four Science students. Differing from the literature reviewed, the findings revealed that there were unique ways in which the scientific theory-law relationship is conceptualized by the interviewees in the study, namely “Scientific laws are superior to theory” and “Scientific theories are different from law”. The findings inferred the interviewees’ understanding of nature of science as absolute and objective. To summarize, it is pertinent to further probe and rectify incorrect, alternative understanding about science knowledge among science learners to ensure sound understanding about science in promoting students’ motivation to learn science.
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Jain, J., Abdullah, N., Lim, B.K. (2016). Science Learners’ Conceptions on the Scientific Theory-Law Relationship: A Phenomenographic Case Study. In: Fook, C., Sidhu, G., Narasuman, S., Fong, L., Abdul Rahman, S. (eds) 7th International Conference on University Learning and Teaching (InCULT 2014) Proceedings. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-664-5_4
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