The application of science education theories

This article addresses the question of what bearing the nature of educational theories has on their application to practice. More specifically, attention is focused on the application of normative goal-directed theories of science education. An account of normative goal-directed theories and of their application is presented. This account highlights the constituent elements and structures that should be found in a normative goal-directed educational theory. A particular version of the science education theory of constructivism is then examined to determine what elements and structures are found in it, and, as a result, what can be said about this theory and its application. Finally, a series of implications are drawn for the general problem of applying science education theories. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 977–1005, 1997.     

How some college students represent their understandings of the nature of scientific theories

This study explores college students' representations about the nature of theories during their enrollment in a large astronomy course with instruction designed to address a number of nature of science issues. We focus our investigation on how nine students represent their understanding of theory, how they distinguish between scientific theories and non‐scientific theories, and how they reason about specific theories. Students' notions of theory were classified under four main categories: (1) hypothesis, (2) idea with evidence, (3) explanation, and (4) explanation based on evidence. Students' condition for deciding whether a given idea is a scientific theory or not were classified under six criteria: content domain, convention, evidence, mathematical content, methodology, and tentativeness. Students expressed slight levels of variation between their reasoning about scientific theories in general and specific theories they learned in the course. Despite increased sophistication in some students' representations, this study affirms the complex dimensions involved in teaching and assessing student understanding about theories. The implications of this study underscore the need to explicitly address the nature of proof in science and issues of tentativeness and certainty students associate with scientific theories, and provide students with more opportunities to utilize the language of science.     

Emirates pre-service and in-service teachers' views about the nature of science

This study investigated Emirates pre-service and in-service teachers' views about the nature of science. A questionnaire was developed and administered to 31 female pre-service science teachers, and 224 inservice chemistry teachers. The questionnaire covered five aspects of the nature of science identified by Palmquist and Finley (1997). These are: scientific theories and models; role of a scientist; scientific knowledge; scientific method; and scientific laws. The results indicated that Emirates teachers' views are neither clearly traditional nor clearly constructivist - they held mixed views about the nature of science. The study attributed the existence of the traditional views to historical reasons and the educational system. The presence of constructivist views was attributed to religious factors, where some of students' religious beliefs agree with some constructivist views. The study argued that the traditional view about the nature of science is in conflict with the teachers' religious beliefs. Teaching science in the Arab culture using the traditional view about science creates what Tobin (1996) called 'symbolic violence'. The study concluded that introducing science from the constructivist point of view and using what Jegede (1996) called 'collateral learning' would help to diminish such violence.     

An exploratory study of the knowledge base for science teaching

The purpose of this study was to describe the knowledge base of a group of science teachers in terms of their knowledge of the structure, function, and development of their disciplines, and their understanding of the nature of science. The study also aimed to relate the teachers' knowledge base to their level of education, years of teaching experience, and the class level(s) that they teach. Twenty inservice science teachers were selected to respond to a modified version of the Views on Science–Technology–Society (VOSTS) questionnaire to assess their understanding of the nature of science. The teachers then constructed concept maps and were interviewed. The concept maps were scored and the interviews analyzed to assess teachers' knowledge of the structure, function, and development of their disciplines. The teachers' knowledge base was found to be lacking in all respects. Teachers held several naive views about the nature of science and did not demonstrate adequate knowledge and understanding of the structure, function, and development of their disciplines. Moreover, the teachers' knowledge base did not relate to their years of teaching experience, the class level(s) that they teach, and their level of education. It was reasoned that teacher preparation programs are not helping teachers develop the knowledge base needed for teaching science. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 673–699, 1997.     

The Eros of Counter Education

Erotic Counter Education (ECE) is the educational position of the late Ilan Gur‐ Ze'ev. In ECE Gur‐Ze'ev combines two opposing positions in the philosophy of education, one teleological and anti‐utopian, the other teleological and utopian. In light of this unique combination, I ask what mediates between these two poles and suggest that the answer lies in the concept of eros. Following a preliminary presentation of the concept of eros in ECE, I define it as a form of transcendental cognition that distinguishes between ‘what is to be perceived’, conceptual and human, and ‘what is not to be perceived’, divine and absolute. I subsequently show how the ‘nature’ of this conception of eros permits the establishment of a normative meta‐theory of education that gains its strength from critical theory and counter education.     

Doing Feminist Educational Theory: A post-modernist perspective

This paper arises from my work as a teacher of courses in feminist educational theory in a New Zealand university. Students usually encounter educational theories as disembodied abstractions scattered in fragments in various, often seemingly unrelated, courses. In a crowded curriculum there is little space for them to create their own educational theories or to reflect on the processes of educational theorising. In this paper I speak with two voices as a means of modelling - for students and teachers of feminist courses - a process of doing educational theory. It is written in two columns. In the left-hand column I speak with an academic voice. I begin by reviewing some theoretical writings of post-modernist theorists who have drawn attention to the ways our educational and social theories are generated by our circumstances - biographical, historical, cultural, generational, and geographical. I then argue that post-modernists have seldom practised what they preach - their abstract, and often inaccessible, writings remain severed from the lived realities at their base. In the right-hand column I speak with a more personal voice. I introduce some everyday experiences which are usually rendered invisible in academic writing in order to demonstrate how a few moments of 'lived reality' can be generative of feminist educational theory. The paper also contains ideas about how its unorthodox form can be used to trigger multiple and idiosyncratic readings and as a trigger for students' writing.     

Learning from Reciprocal Peer Observation: A collaborative self-study

Engaging in a self-study is a multi-faceted activity that involves not only autobiography and theory, but also students and colleagues. Learning from and with colleagues can take many forms. This article discusses the authors' experience with reciprocal classroom observation in a teacher education context. Peer observation supported our learning about our own teaching by providing suggestions for change and mutual reassurance. In this study we make connections between learning from each other, ourselves, our students and theories of teaching and learning. Specifically, we address what we learned about pedagogy in relation to missed opportunities, teacher-directedness and articulating purpose; about curriculum, in relation to balance and standards; about our students, in relation to their backgrounds as well as social tensions; and about ourselves as teachers and learners in relation to rapport, role modeling and collegiality. We demonstrate how peer observation can be a valuable component of ongoing professional development for tertiary teachers.     

Constructivism: Sound theory for explicating the practice of science and science teaching

Critics praise applications of constructivism in science pedagogy, but they argue that constructivism is severely impaired and hopelessly flawed as a theory. Flawed theory should not be employed to explain innovative practice. My purposes are twofold. First and foremost, I present a case to support my own and others' assertions that constructivism is a sound theory with which to explain the practice of science and science pedagogy. In accomplishing my primary purpose, I also fulfill my secondary purpose, to respond to constructivism's critics. My argument is presented in three parts. In Part 1, I delineate the epistemological ground with a brief synopsis of the purpose, nature, and orientation of radical and social constructivism. I then offer a synthesis of their foundations. In Part 2, I offer a constructivist account of five long-standing epistemological issues, including truth, solipsism, experience, instrumentalism, and relativity. Truth is the center piece of the argument, and I show how constructivism avoids the root paradox by embracing truth as coherence. Next, constructivism is shown to be a rejection of solipsism. Then, an account of experience based in neurophysiological theory, emergent properties, and the brain as a parallel data-processing organ is provided to support constructivism's inside-out view of experience, in which meaning making occurs within individual minds and in communities of individuals. In the final segment of Part 2, I present a constructivist account of relativity which focuses on physicists' acceptance of relativity, its translation to constructivist epistemology, and constructivists' request for silence regarding ontology. Response to critics' objections are also presented at appropriate points throughout Part 2. In the third part, I present constructivism as an epistemological foundation for a cybernetic perspective of knowing. I then summarize the value of constructivism in explaining and interpreting the practice of science and science pedagogy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 501–520, 1998.     

THE CONCEPT OF EVIDENCE IN EVIDENCE‐BASED PRACTICE

There exists a vast literature on evidence‐based practice (EBP) in education. The debate branches out in several directions, for example, what EBP entails for the nature of educational practice, what it entails for the teaching profession, what counts as use and abuse of evidence, and what educational research could or should contribute to a what works kind of practice. In this essay Tone Kvernbekk focuses on the fate of the concept of evidence in the debate, observing that the concept seems, by and large, to be missing from the debate. She argues that educational debates about EBP stand to gain in nuance and depth from employing philosophical insights about evidence. Kvernbekk develops this claim by discussing different conceptions of evidence and by inquiring into three aspects of the evidentiary relation: the meaning of “based,” underdetermination, and the relativization of evidence.     

Authentic Encountering of Others and Learning through Media-Based Public Discussion: A Phenomenological Analysis

In challenging the media-pessimistic phenomenological analyses provided by Hubert Dreyfus and Tanja Staehler, I argue that such analyses have misinterpreted phenomenological theory and have resulted in fallacious arguments. I show that phenomenological theory, as it relates to what constitutes our social experiences, indicates that the core of encountering others is the same in both physical presence and through the media. It is the other's expressions and not the presence of their physical bodies that is central. Based on the phenomenological analyses of Husserl and Stein, I conclude that there is no reason why even advanced learning should not be possible via media-based public discussion.     

Reading beneath the lines of children's stories

This paper is drawn from a study of 10-12 year-old children's stories, the specific purpose of which was to provide a means of investigating the influence of television and videos on children's imagination. Faced with the need to understand nearly 500 stories from their authors' points of view, that is interpreting the authors' meanings and intentions rather than constructing my own meaning as a reader, I found myself wondering how the 'reading' of these texts was to be undertaken. The paper describes the technique I devised for this task and what I found it could reveal about the subtlety, complexity and multiple meanings that can often be discovered in children's stories.The potential power of such an approach to reading children's writing raises issues about the assessment of school writing.     

Violence as understandable,deserved or unacceptable? Listening for gender in teenagers' talk about violence

Youth violence is a topic of increasing global concern. Research has primarily focused on young people's responses to existing definitions of violence in seeking to understand how best to develop violence prevention. Little work has explored how young people themselves define violence and the factors which influence their acceptance, and use, of violent behaviour. The present study investigated young people's understandings of what constitutes violence, their acceptance of violence and justifications made for doing so. The study was distinct in its focus on young people's characterisations of violence. The findings revealed that gender norms mediate understandings of what constitutes violence and discourses around the perceived acceptability of violence. Particular forms of violence were clearly identified as being more acceptable and ‘deserved’ than others and young people's perceptions were shaped by their understandings of appropriate and normative gender behaviour.     

Whose nature of science?

Science education literature explicitly and implicitly advocates basic tenets (criteria) for “the nature of science.” The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the science education tenets are also held by philosophers of science (those who study purported tenets of science), and furthermore, to reveal possible related philosophical positions underpinning differences in responses among the philosophers. The philosophers of science expressed significant disagreements with the tenets, and different philosophers of science varied on their views about the tenets. In addition, relationships were found among the philosophers' views of the nature of science, their views of philosophy of space, and with their philosophy of science in general. Therefore, the tenets that are advocated as basic criteria for science education's “the nature of science” must be reconsidered so that more accurate criteria may be developed for future nature of science research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34 : 39–55, 1997.     

Promoting preservice chemistry teachers' understanding about the nature of science through history

The purpose of this quasi‐experimental study was to document the benefits of teaching chemistry through history. The experimental group consisted of seniors enrolled in a teacher preparation program in which they learned how to teach chemistry through the history of science. Their understanding of the nature of science was compared with that of a control group, which consisted of juniors in the same department. The results of the analysis of covariance revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on an instrument documenting respondents' understanding of the nature of science. Additional frequency analysis and interview data indicated that the experimental group students had a better understanding of the nature of creativity, the theory‐based nature of scientific observations, and the functions of theories. In the pretreatment interviews, students in the experimental group based their explanations concerning the nature of science primarily on their intuition. In the posttreatment interview, however, they were able to explain their beliefs by using scientists' arguments or hypotheses as examples. This result indicates that the experimental group's understanding about the nature of science was enhanced by learning to teach through the history of science. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 773–792, 2002     

Children,Self-knowledge and Cultural Reproduction

This article evaluates two most popular normative theories about the reproduction of cultural values through children from the perspective of self-knowledge: Brighouse and Swift's parent-child relationship argument and Clayton's public reason argument. I suggest that while plausible on some grounds, these arguments struggle to accommodate the normative importance of the child's substantive self-knowledge. I propose that we understand cultural reproduction as a learning process and require that children, in addition to cultural content their parents transfer to them, must also acquire knowledge of their own unique personal identity.     

Two Worries about Educational Goods

In this brief comment on Educational Goods, I raise two worries about the authors' proposed normative framework for educational decision-makers. The first concerns the omission of rationality, or responsiveness to reasons, from the list of educational goods; the second concerns the inclusion of parental interests in the list of independent values.     

Crafting multicultural science education with preservice teachers through service-learning

Many science educators, in the US and elsewhere, suppport the idea that all students should have fair and equal opportunities to become scientifically literate through authentic, real problem-based science education. However, this challenge requires teachers to find ways to help all students feel comfortable with, and connected to, science. Despite the general consensus around the ideal of science for all, science teacher education programmes have had little or no impact on preservice teachers' philosophies of teaching and learning, especially as it relates to serving underserved populations in science. In this paper, I explore community service-learning as one way of addressing the multicultural dimension of preservice education with the following three questions: In what ways does involving pre-service science teachers in community service-learning influence their views on multicultural science education, in theory and practice? What qualities of community service-learning make multicultural science education a realistic objective? How might service-learning be used to push our collective understanding of what an inclusive and liberatory multicultural science teaching practice could be? I explore these questions and propose further areas of research by using a case study involving service-learning from my own teaching-research with preservice students.     

The duality of scientific ethos: Deep and surface structures

Aristotle's concept of ethos is primarily one based on civic duty, and as such loses its specificity when extended to the scientific forum. By adapting Aristotle's traditional concept of ethos to contemporary social norms of science, a link can be established between classical theory and contemporary practice. In this essay, I use Robert Merton's theory of the normative conditions of science to perform a meta‐critique of the use of ethos in four case studies. This meta‐analysis reveals the dual structure of ethos as reflected in a surface structure of style and a deep structure of argument.     

Analysing teachers' operations when teaching students: what constitutes scientific theories?

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study is to analyse teachers’ efforts to develop secondary school students’ knowledge and argumentation skills of what constitutes scientific theories. The analysis is based on Leontiev’s three-level structure of activity (activity, action, and operation), as these levels correspond to the questions why, what, and how content is taught. The unit of analysis was a school development project in science education, where design-based interventions were conducted. Data comprised notes and minutes from eight meetings, plans, and video recordings of the lessons, and a written teacher evaluation. The teachers’ (n = 7) learning actions were analysed to identify (a) concept formation in science education, (b) expressions of agency, (c) discursive manifestations of contradictions, and (d) patterns of interaction during the science interventions. Three lessons on what constitutes scientific theories were implemented in three different student groups (n = 24, 23, 24), framed by planning and evaluation meetings for each lesson. The results describe (1) the ways in which teachers became more skilled at ensuring instruction met their students’ needs and (2) the ways in which teachers’ operations during instruction changed as a result of their developed knowledge of how to express the content based on theoretical assumptions.     

Characterizing teacher attention to student thinking: A role for epistemological messages

Although research and policy suggest science and mathematics teachers should attend to their student's thinking during instruction, our field has inadequately defined what that means in relation to our ultimate goals for the practice. Here I present a theoretical argument that, in making their definitions, researchers should leverage the ways students understand such attention by characterizing teacher attention based on the epistemological messages it sends students about the nature of knowledge and learning in the classroom. Using data collected from high school science and mathematics teachers with a new video‐capture methodology, I present an analysis of variability in epistemological messages of teacher attention to illustrate work could unfold if we as researchers took up the theoretical claims made in this work. In doing so, I endeavor to draw the construct of epistemological messages into our collective conversations about teacher attention, and provide a starting point for our field to begin debating the most productive ways to study and unpack the epistemological messages we value in that teacher attention. I conclude by demonstrating the feasibility of using these messages to distinguish the types of teacher attention our field wants to develop and encourage in teacher education. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 94–120, 2018