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.     

The importance of place in indigenous science education

In this issue of Cultural Studies of Science Education, Mack and colleagues (Mack et al. 2011) seek to identify the necessary components of science education in Indigenous settings. Using a review of current research in informal science education in Indigenous settings, along with personal interviews with American educators engaged in these programs, the authors suggest some effective practices to use Indigenous ways of knowing to strengthen science programming. For the past 4 years, we have been interested in the importance of place in culturally relevant science education. We have explored the role of place and have used Gruenewald’s critical pedagogy of place (2003) to examine the importance of place in a variety of Indigenous contexts. In response to Mack and colleagues, in this paper we explore the importance of place as a means to reinhabituate Indigenous youth who live in urban, First Nation, and rural Costa Rican contexts.     

Land education: Indigenous,post-colonial,and decolonizing perspectives on place and environmental education research

This editorial introduces a special issue of Environmental Education Research titled ‘Land education: Indigenous, post-colonial, and decolonizing perspectives on place and environmental education research.’ The editorial begins with an overview of each of the nine articles in the issue and their contributions to land and environmental education, before outlining features of land education in more detail. ‘Key considerations’ of land education are discussed, including: Land and settler colonialism, Land and Indigenous cosmologies, Land and Indigenous agency and resistance, and The significance of naming. The editorial engages the question ‘Why land education?’ by drawing distinctions between land education and current forms of place-based education. It closes with a discussion of modes and methods of land education research.     

The role of the experiment in science education

The article focuses on defining the role of demonstration in general and experiments in particular in science education at the high school level, on the basis of psychological data and recent conceptions about the nature of science. It is argued that experiments play a restricted role in transmitting knowledge, but may be used as deductions demonstrating concepts; they are useless or harmful in teaching problem-solving but important as aids in testing alternative solutions and in training specific scientific skills; and finally, they are not the best means for evoking and maintaining curiosity in adolescents. Special consideration is paid to the role of concepts and concretizations in science, adolescent thinking and science instruction.     

略论理科教育在藏族教育发展中的重要地位和作用

随着世界新技术革命的蓬勃发展,科学技术日益渗透到社会生活的各个领域,成为提高劳动生产力的重要源泉和建设现代精神文明的重要基础。在知识经济和知识创新的新世纪里,理科教育的作用更加突出。它是发展知识经济,促进知识创新的基础和源泉。藏族教育的健康发展离不开知识经济和知识创新的融合,为使藏族教育尽快适应新时代发展要求,就要从理科教育入手,突出理科教育在藏族教育发展中的重要地位和衔接知识经济与知识创新的牵头作用。     

反对整合:理解并筹划"原汁原味"的科学教育与人文教育

在有关科学与人文、科学教育与人文教育议题的汗牛充栋的文献中,“整合、融合、综合”科学与人文、科学教育与人文教育成了绝对主流的声音。这一声音的变形是“以人文指引科学,以人文教育为科学教育指引方向”,人文相比科学,人文教育相比科学教育是更高层次的,要用较高层次的行为来整合或统合较低层次的行为。在上述声音中,科学与人文的轻重被看作是科学内容与人文内容的轻重,即科学课与人文课的轻重(以“数理化生”为代表的科学课和以“文史哲艺”为代表的人文课之间的价值比较)。然而,当我们比较科学与人文、科学教育与人文教育的价值时,不知不觉中抽去了科学之所以是科学的精神、性质,人文之所以是人文的精神、性     

Native science,intercultural education and place‐conscious education: an Ecuadorian example

This paper explores ways to bring together local and global knowledge systems in the context of education. It first discusses the concepts of native science and of intercultural education, key ideas in Ecuadorian indigenous education today. Both of these concepts seek to unite the local and the global in new ways. It explores the views of Ecuadorian indigenous educators and leaders around issues of education and science. The primary need voiced by these individuals is that of defending their communities against various kinds of encroachment, economic as well as cultural, and the enterprise of education is viewed within this reality. Finally, the paper discusses the paradigm of place‐conscious education, which the author argues is a unifying conceptual framework that speaks to the concerns voiced by these educators as well as those of educators elsewhere.     

Indigenous technology of Sierra Leone and the science education of girls

Female school enrolment in Sierra Leone is consistently and significantly lower than that of boys at all levels of the educational system. Certain traditional beliefs, values and practices discriminate against the education of girls. There is an urgent need to adapt the science curriculum to the needs of girls, by including aspects they can relate to and identify with. Using indigenous technology as a basis for science education is a good way to begin. The use of familiar materials and processes will remove the fear often associated with science, thereby encouraging more female participation.     

The role of language in science education: Some reflections from Fiji

One of the issues identified in a recent study of science teaching and learning in Fiji's primary and secondary schools was the problems faced by students in coping with scientific terminology, and in expressing ideas in their own words (Muralidhar, 1989). In this paper, some examples from the study are used to illustrate the extent of the problem and to discuss the implications for teaching and learning science. It is argued that the quality of communication is an important factor in promoting the understanding of science, especially when the main sources of information for the majority of students are the textbook and the teacher. Specializations: Science teacher education, curriculum in action, problem solving, curriculum evaluation, naturalistic research.     

Indigenous knowledge and science in a globalized age

This forum explores and expands on Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Eshach, Orion, and Alamour’s article titled “Cultural Differences and Students’ Spontaneous Models of the Water Cycle: A Case Study of Jewish and Bedouin Children in Israel” by examining how indigenous knowledge is appropriated in science classrooms; how students from indigenous students’ experiences are more complex than many non-indigenous students; and how science and globalization complicates the preservation of indigenous knowledge. In this forum we suggest that research on indigenous knowledge be examined through the lens of the locally situated contexts and the extent to which globalization hinders this kind of knowledge in the name of value neutral scientific knowledge. We finally suggest that research in indigenous communities has to be more intentional and respectful, and teachers need to rethink how useful and meaningful science learning can be for indigenous students.     

Professional development and reform in science education: The role of teachers' practical knowledge

In this article, professional development in the context of the current reforms in science education is discussed from the perspective of developing teachers' practical knowledge. It is argued that reform efforts in the past have often been unsuccessful because they failed to take teachers' existing knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes into account. Teachers' practical knowledge is conceptualized as action‐oriented and person‐bound. As it is constructed by teachers in the context of their work, practical knowledge integrates experiential knowledge, formal knowledge, and personal beliefs. To capture this complex type of knowledge, multimethod designs are necessary. On the basis of a literature review, it is concluded that long‐term professional development programs are needed to achieve lasting changes in teachers' practical knowledge. In particular, the following strategies are potentially powerful: (a) learning in networks, (b) peer coaching, (c) collaborative action research, and (d) the use of cases. In any case, it is recommended that teachers' practical knowledge be investigated at the start of a reform project, and that changes in this knowledge be monitored throughout the project. In that way, the reform project may benefit from teachers' expertise. Moreover, this makes it possible to adjust the reform so as to enhance the chances of a successful implementation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 137–158, 2001     

教育的还原与更新--试论教育本身

当前教育的问题,在于偏离教育本体,即教育本身。故教育必须还原与更新,才能重新焕发出生机和活力。教育本身,就是教育之所是。教育是真实的人的教育,是使人尽性,唤醒和铸造人的灵魂的教育。实现教育本身,需要教师用自己的整个生命去感动、解放和提升学生的生命。     

Scientific literacy: Its real origin story and functional role in American education

It has been widely accepted in the science education research community that scientific literacy as a concept and phrase was introduced by Paul deHart Hurd in 1958. Recent research into the origins of the phrase, however, has shown this to be incorrect. Its first published use can be traced back, in fact, to 1945, and the phrase was frequently invoked in popular and research publications throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Exploring the historical circumstances of the phrase's introduction into popular discourse, it is argued, reveals that despite the rhetorical power and widespread adoption of the idea, scientific literacy (as others have pointed out) has proven to be little more than an empty slogan that offers no substantive guidance for thinking about the goals of science education. This essay argues that rather than continue to cling to the idea, the field of science education can more productively consider the most relevant and appropriate goals of science teaching by dispensing with the concept altogether.     

The place of practical wisdom in science education: what can be learned from Aristotelian ethics and a virtue-based theory of knowledge

This conceptual paper aims to characterize science teachers’ practical knowledge utilizing a virtue-based theory of knowledge and the Aristotelian notion of phronesis/practical wisdom. The article argues that a greater understanding of the concept of phronesis and its relevance to science education would enrich our understandings of teacher knowledge, its development, and consequently models of teacher education. Views of teacher knowledge presented in this paper are informed by philosophical literature that questions normative views of knowledge and argues for a virtue-based epistemology rather than a belief-based one. The paper first outlines general features of phronesis/practical wisdom. Later, a virtue-based view of knowledge is described. A virtue-based view binds knowledge with moral concepts and suggests that knowledge development is motivated by intellectual virtues such as intellectual sobriety, perseverance, fairness, and humility. A virtue-based theory of knowledge gives prominence to the virtue of phronesis/practical wisdom, whose primary function is to mediate among virtues and theoretical knowledge into a line of action that serves human goods. The role of phronesis and its relevance to teaching science are explained accordingly. I also discuss differences among various characterizations of practical knowledge in science education and a virtue-based characterization. Finally, implications and further questions for teacher education are presented.     

Indigenous Knowledges and native science as partners: a rejoinder

In this response to commentators on our article entitled, How might Native science inform “informal science learning”?, we offer elaboration on the role of Indigenous Knowledges (IK) in informing Native Science. In the response, we argue that IK is not only pertinent to the conversation of Native Science, but that it is a necessary piece in the conversation. Rather than addressing the commentaries directly, we attempt to point to the ways that the commentaries support and challenge our original arguments.