A Holistic approach to the atom in school chemistry

Molts plans i programes d'estudi s'han desenvolupat per fomentar la comprensió significativa de l'àtom. No obstant això, l'àtom segueix sent un concepte difícil per a molts estudiants. En aquest article, s'argumenta que una deficiència en l'ensenyament de la ciència i l'aprenentatge de conceptes científics, inclòs l'àtom, inclouen la coordinació limitada entre (a) les diverses formes de coneixement científic i (b) l'epistèmica, aspectes cognitius i socials de les pràctiques científiques. Es presenten eines visuals que poden ser útils en la comunicació de la complexitat dels diversos aspectes de la ciència.Many curricula and syllabi have been developed to foster meaningful understanding of the atom. Yet, the atom remains a difficult concept for many students. In this article, it is argued that a shortcoming in science teaching and learning of science concepts, including the atom, include limited coordination among (a) the various forms of scientific knowledge, and (b) the epistemic, cognitive and social aspects of scientific practices. Visual tools that can be helpful in communicating the complexity of various aspects of science are also presented

Talking chemistry in Zanzibar: probing pupils' chemistry knowledge using videos of local pedagogies

L'article descriu una entrevista amb un grup de dos nois i dues noies sobre alguns viídeos d'ensenyament i aprenentatge a les escoles de Zanzíbar, a l'Àfrica. L'estudi és part d'un projecte més gran anomenat SPINE (Rendiment dels Alumnes en els Exàmens Nacionals), finançat pel Consell de Recerca Econòmic i Social i el Departament de Desenvolupament Internacional del Regne Unit. El projecte va ser una col·laboració entre la Universitat de Bristol i la Universitat Estatal de Zanzíbar. L'estudi proporciona l'evidència que els alumnes de Zanzíbar s'enfronten a dificultats importants amb l'idioma anglès que contribueixen a les seves dificultats amb els coneixements de química. No obstant això, quan els alumnes estan immersos en contextos interessants i motivadors, amb enllaços i referències a la cultura local i a l'escola, estan disposats i són capaços de contribuir al debat. Les discussions en aquest estudi il·lustren com pot ser de sofisticada per als alumnes la comprensió de la química juntament amb l'exposició d'algunes idees prèvies sobre alguns conceptes químics clau.The article describes a group interview with two boys and two girls around some video clips of teaching and learning in Zanzibar schools in Africa. The study is part of a larger project called SPINE (Student Performance in National Examinations) funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Department for International Development in the United Kingdom. The project was a collaboration between University of Bristol and the State University of Zanzibar. The study provides evidence that pupils in Zanzibar face significant difficulties with English language which contributes to their difficulties with subject knowledge of chemistry as well. However when the pupils are immersed in interesting and motivating contexts with links and referents to local culture and schooling, they are willing to and are able to contribute to discussion. Such discussions in this study illustrate how sophisticated pupils’ understanding of chemistry and pedagogy can be along with the exposure of some misconceptions about some key chemical ideas

Investigating pre-service teachers’ understanding of nature of science:Contributions of an assessment tool based on the reconceptualized family resemblance approach

Several literature sources discuss the importance of nature of science (NOS) understanding and how having an understanding is central to being a scientifically literate citizen. As a result, developing NOS understanding is one of the most commonly stated objectives for science education. Acquiring views on NOS has been a prominent feature of research in this area since the 1960s. The following article provides a proof of concept for the transformation of a theoretical framework into a practical assessment tool (worksheet). The reconceptualized family resemblance approach to NOS is a theoretical framing of NOS which describes components of science in terms of categories subsumed under epistemic, cognitive and social systems. The aim is to explore its potential for use in science education and demonstrate its functionality so as to collect data on pre-service teachers’ understanding of NOS and substantiate what can be achieved through its application. The designed assessment tool has many purposes and in this case it was used in a pre-, post-, and delayed-post methodology to investigate pre-service teachers’ understanding of NOS following participation in NOS themed workshops. Implications for science teacher education will be discussed

Bütünleştirici eğitim takım işidir: Farklı ihtiyaçları olan öğrencilerin fen derslerinde desteklenmesi

Science teaching for promoting inclusion (Step-IN) project is Teacher Development Agency (TDA) funded collaboration between a secondary school and a higher education institute. This project was based on a collaborative research philosophy to promote inclusive science teaching using evidence-based teaching strategies. The purpose of this continued professional development (CPD) project was to create the space for science teachers to identify potential inclusion issues in their classes and to develop strategies to tackle such issues. The CPD model included peer-collaboration and evidence-based reasoning about inclusive science teaching. This CPD experience was perceived to be an unequivocally positive one for the teachers. Inclusion of teacher's voices, developing their own CPD agenda, was found to be one of the major findings of the project.Bütünleştirici eğitimi destekler Fen Bilimleri öğretimi (Step-IN), İngiliz Öğretmen Gelişim Ajansı (TDA) tarafından desteklenmiş bir lise ve bir yüksek öğretim kurumu işbirliği projesidir. Kanıta dayalı öğretim stratejileri kullanılarak bütünleştirici fen bilimleri eğitimini destekleyen proje işbirlikçi araştırma felsefesi üzerine kurgulanmıştır. Bu mesleki gelişim projesinin amacı (CPD) Fen Bilimleri öğretmenlerine zaman yaratarak sınıflarında bütünleştirici eğitimi hayata geçime sürecindeki engelleri tespit etmek ve buna yönelik çözüm üretmelerini sağlamaktır. Projede adapte edilen mesleki gelişim modeli bütünleştirici Fen Bilimleri eğitimi hakkında meslektaş işbirliği ve kanıta dayalı akıl yürütmeyi içermektedir. Bu model araştırmaya katılan tüm öğretmenler için pozitif bir deneyim olmuştur. Çalışmanın ana bulguları içinde öğretmenlerin seslerini duyurabilmesi ve kendi mesleki gelişim ajandalarını oluşturabilmeleri en önemli bulgular arasında sıralanabilir

Beyond nature of science: The case for reconceptualising ‘science’ for science education.

ABSTRACT: In this paper, I argue that contemporary accounts of nature of science (NoS) are limited in their depiction of 'science' and that new perspectives are needed to broaden their characterisation and appeal for science education. In particular, I refer to the role of interdisciplinary characterisations of science in informing the theory and practice of science teaching and learning. After a brief review on the reconceptualization of NoS from a range of perspectives, namely philosophy of science, socio-political accounts of science (in the context of colonial science), linguistics and anthropology, I will focus on philosophical and economical characterisation of science, drawing out some implications for science education. A predominant part of my argument will be theoretical in nature with some pedagogical applications in the context of an empirical project conducted in Istanbul, Turkey and co-funded by TUBITAK and Marie Curie Cofund Brain Circulation Scheme. I will conclude with broader implications of interdisciplinary studies on science for science education research and practice

Editorial : Future-oriented science education for agency and sustainable development

Peer reviewe

Brandon’s Matrix:A view on scientific methods in biology classrooms

Many biology textbooks open with a section on the scientific method, and usually laboratory activities involve a stepwise procedure that is followed in a formulaic fashion Although there are many accounts of the scientific method in biology, they are often problematic as they are not comprehensive in showing the diversity of scientific methods. To solve some tensions regarding the definition of the scientific methods in biology, we introduce Brandon’s Matrix as a framework that helps show the complexity of methods as a simple two-by-two matrix. It represents the connections between experiments and observations. Brandon illustrates not all experiments rely on hypothesis testing and not all descriptive work is non-manipulative, as they rely more on a diversity of approaches including parameter measurements. According to Brandon, the nature of the investigation is related to whether or not it involves (i) manipulation and (ii) hypothesis testing or a parameter measurement. In this way, one can think in terms of experiments and non-experiments/observations relative to descriptive versus experimental methods. Hence, Brandon’s framework goes beyond the traditional limitations of the scientific method as a linear process of hypothesis testing and provides a more comprehensive, inclusive and realistic account of methods applied by biologists, for both current and historical studies. The chapter will introduce the framework and show its use in a research project with schools in England to produce resources, as well as its utility as an analytical framework for curriculum and assessment documents

Communicating science in the COVID-19 news in the UK during Omicron waves: exploring representations of nature of science with epistemic network analysis

News media plays a vital role in communicating scientific evidence to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such communication is important for convincing the public to follow social distancing guidelines and to respond to health campaigns such as vaccination programmes. However, newspapers were criticised that they focus on the socio-political perspective of science, without explaining the nature of scientific works behind the government’s decisions. This paper examines the connections of the nature of science categories in the COVID-19 era by four local newspapers in the United Kingdom between November 2021 to February 2022. Nature of science refers to different aspects of how science works such as aims, values, methods and social institutions of science. Considering the news media may mediate public information and perception of scientific stories, it is relevant to ask how the various British newspapers covered aspects of science during the pandemic. In the period explored, Omicron variant was initially a variant of concern, and an increasing number of scientific evidence showed that the less severity of this variant might move the country from pandemic to endemic. We explored how news articles communicate public health information by addressing how science works during the period when Omicron variants surge. A novel discourse analysis approach, epistemic network analysis is used to characterise the frequency of connections of categories of the nature of science. The connection between political factors and the professional activities of scientists, as well as that with scientific practices are more apparent in left-populated and centralist outlets than in right-populated news outlets. Among four news outlets across the political spectrum, a left-populated newspaper, the Guardian, is not consistent in representing relations of different aspects of the nature of scientific works across different stages of the public health crisis. Inconsistency of addressing aspects of scientific works and a downplay of the cognitive-epistemic nature of scientific works likely lead to failure in trust and consumption of scientific knowledge by the public in the healthcare crisis