The republic of science education research

Conclusion In this paper I have tried to examine the possibility of a free and independent republic of science education in which all are committed to the pursuit of truth, freedom, quality and equality. The task will undoubtedly be a difficult one, given the constraints and the external forces which are likely to keep us in the wilderness. But the way to the promised land is, I believe, to develop individually and collectively, a commitment to questioning the justice as well as the effectiveness of what we are doing. To count as science education research, the work we do must contribute to the education of teachers. It must help sensitize teachers to the nature of the problems which confront them. It must help them to make professional judgments about what is justifiable, feasible and worth trying, given what we know of the effects of different strategies. And it must contribute to the development and refinement of the common-sense knowledge and pedagogical theories by means of which science educators make sense of the phenomena of science education and which guide their actions.     

科学教育的现状及科学教育研究的意义

中国科学院院长路甬祥先生，于2000年6月10日在北京科学会党提出了在国内开展科学教育研究与实施的问题，引起了国内教育界，科技界的广泛关注，本在借鉴国外科学教育研究和实施经验的基础上，结合我国的科技发展水平，依据我国基础教育的实际，对我国开展科学教育的目的，意义进行探讨，意在为实施科学教育探寻理论基础。     

The place of qualitative research in science education

This article develops a way to conceptualize the complementarity of quantitative and qualitative research in science education. The differing sets of metaphysical presuppositions that give rise to the two approaches are systematically examined by using Stephen Pepper's “world hypotheses”: it is argued and demonstrated that quantitative research is formist/ mechanist in its metaphysical preoccupation, while qualitative research is contextualist/organicist. The vehicle for demonstrating how these metaphysical systems actually influence science education research is Stephen Toulmin's “argument pattern.” It is demonstrated through analysis of examples that quantitative and qualitatitive research reports follow the same pattern of argument, even though the metaphysical roots behind the approaches, which control their differing methodologies and other features, are obviously different. Given the emergence of qualitative research styles, implications are explored for the development of science education research as a total enterprise. Special attention is paid to the problems of appraising the quality of qualitative research reports and to the need for a comprehensive view of what constitutes legitimate research in science education.     

Benefits of naturalistic methods in research in science education

The author argues that naturalistic (e.g., qualitative, ethnographic) research is appropriate for studying science education. Field methods such as indepth interviewing and observation are used, and the logic of the inquiry is inductive rather than hypothetico-deductive. The stages of naturalistic research are explained and illustrated with material from the NSF-sponsored Case Studies in Science Education. Problems in traditional research methods (construct validity, ecological generalization) are presented as justification for inductive models or models based on multiple methods, perspectives, and operations.     

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and interpretive research in science education

Within the current methodological debate, notions successful in the natural sciences are rallied by social sciences researchers to support their own methodological approaches. However, problems of understanding the physical principles have often clouded the issue. One such notion under discussion is Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the derivative notions of indeterminacy, uncertainty, precision, and observer–observed interaction. This article discusses these notions and their applications to social science research. Implications are drawn for research in science education.     

科学教育的社会需要研究

本文用报刊检索法调查社会对科学教育的需要 ,两份调查的结果一致表明 ,创新精神和创新能力培养是现今社会对科学教育的最主要需要。     

基于人本主义心理学的教育科学研究方法论

人本主义是西方心理学的主要研究取向之一,突出人的动机系统与高级需要的重要作用,关注人的本性、潜能、价值、创造力和自我实现.这种“以人为中心”的理论与教育作为培养人的活动的本质相契合,因而构成人本主义教育观的核心和基础,也是人本主义教育科学研究方法的核心和基础.本文在简要回顾人本主义心理学的基础上,提出构建基于人本主义心理学的教育科学研究方法的基本构想,并运用该方法分析我国教育界当前关注的一些重大理论问题.