Young People's Images of Science

by Rosalind Driver; John Leach; Robin Millar; Phil Scott

• ISBN13: 9780335193813
• ISBN10: 0335193811
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1996-01-16
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill UK

Summary

* What ideas about science do school students form as a result of their experiences in and out of school?* How might science teaching in schools develop a more scientifically-literate society?* How do school students understand disputes about scientific issues including those which have social significance, such as the irradiation of food?There have been calls in the UK and elsewhere for a greater public understanding of science underpinned by, amongst other things, school science education. However, the relationship between school science, scientific literacy and the public understanding of science remains controversial.In this book, the authors argue that an understanding of science goes beyond learning the facts, laws and theories of science and that it involves understanding the nature of scientific knowledge itself and the relationships between science and society. Results of a major study into the understanding of these issues by school students aged 9 to 16 are described. These results suggest that the success of the school science curriculum in promoting this kind of understanding is at best limited.The book concludes by discussing ways in which the school science curriculum could be adapted to better equip students as future citizens in our modern scientific and technological society. It will be particularly relevant to science teachers, advisers and inspectors, teacher educators and curriculum planners.

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables	vii
Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
Conventions used for presenting extracts from interview transcripts	xiii
Introduction	1	(7)
Why does understanding of the nature of science matter?	8	(16)
Perspectives on the nature of science	24	(21)
What do we already know about students' understanding of the nature of science?	45	(14)
Investigating students' ideas about the nature of science	59	(13)
Students' characterizations of the purposes of scientific work	72	(13)
Students' views of the nature and status of scientific knowledge	85	(27)
A framework for characterizing features of students' epistemological reasoning in science	112	(6)
Students' views of science as a social enterprise	118	(18)
Young people's images of the nature of science: implications for science education	136	(15)
References	151	(8)
Appendix 1 Notes on the statistical test used	159	(2)
Appendix 2 Interview protocol for the probe Theory Stories	161	(4)
Appendix 3 List of working papers	165	(2)
Index	167