The aim of developing students' understanding of the nature of science [NOS] has been considered an important aspect of science education. However, the results of previous research indicate that students of various ages and even teachers possess both inaccurate and inappropriate views of the NOS. Such a failure has been explained by the view that perceptions about the NOS are well assimilated into mental structures and resistant to change. Further, the popularization of pseudoscience by the media and the assimilation of pseudoscience into previously established scientific fields have been presented as possible reasons for erroneous popular perceptions of science. Any teaching intervention designed to teach the NOS should first provoke individuals to expose their current ideas in order to provide them the chance to revise or replace these conceptual frameworks. Based on these assumptions, the aim of this study was to determine whether a teaching context based on the issue of demarcation would provide a suitable opportunity for exposing and further developing the NOS understandings of individuals enrolled in a teacher education course. Results indicate that a learning intervention based on the issue of demarcation of science from pseudoscience (in the specific case of astrology) proved an effective instructional strategy, which a majority of teacher candidates claimed to plan to use in their future teachings.
Bu araştırmanın amacı, üstün zekâlı öğrencilerin genel anlamda bilim ve bilim insanı ile ilgili algılarının incelenmesidir. Nitel metodolojinin esas alındığı araştırmanın çalışma grubunda Sinop ili Bilim Sanat Merkezi'nde üstün zekâlı bireyler nitelemesiyle eğitim almakta olan 24 (12 kız, 12 erkek) ortaokul öğrencisi yer almıştır. Araştırmanın veri kaynağını araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilmiş ve altı açık uçlu sorudan oluşmuş Bilim Algısı Formu (BAF) oluşturmuştur. Odağında öğrencilerin zihinlerindeki bilim ve bilim insanı algılarının yer aldığı BAF'ta yer alan sorulara verilen yazılı cevaplar içerik analizine tabi tutulmuştur. Araştırmada elde edilen bulgular, öğrencilerin bilimi okul bilimi (school science) algısıyla öğrenilmesi gereken bir bilgi birikimi olarak tanımladıklarını, bilimsel bilginin üretilme sürecinde bilimi tanımlarken ortaya koydukları argümanlarla tutarlı biçimde süreçten ziyade ürüne odaklandıklarını ve deneysel kanıtlamaya vurgu yaptıklarını göstermiştir. Öğrencilerin deneysel kanıtlama vurguları, bilim insanı çizimlerinde de laboratuvar ortamı ve önlük temalarıyla kendisini hissettirmiştir. Öğrencilerin bilim insanı algılarında öne çıkan diğer motifler ise gözlük ve dağınık bir dış görünüş olmuştur.
In this research, it was aimed to investigate the decisions of gifted students regarding particular socio-scientific issues with their warrants and information sources on those decisions. The research was qualitative in nature and the participants were 36 (21 male, 15 female) elementary school students who had training at Sinop Science and Art Centre. The data source of the research was a written from consisted nine open ended questions regarding four socio-scientific issues and the data obtained were analysed by content analysis technique. The findings of the study revealed that students concluded differently in different socio-scientific issues with varying warrants and considered media as the primary information source in that process. Media was followed by authority, education and social environment as other information sources. Based on those results, it was proposed to develop instructional activities for Science and Art Centres aiming the integration of media literacy with socio-scientific issues.© 2017 IOJES. All rights reserved Keywords: 1 Socio-scientific issues, media, gifted student, science education Extended Summary PurposeIn today's world, individuals are more interested in socio-scientific issues such as renewable energy sources, nuclear energy, genetically modified organisms and climate change since they are required to make decisions about them. However, socio-scientific issues consist of ethical, moral or legal dilemma and cannot be easily agreed on. They are naturally complex, open-ended, and mostly controversial and individuals need multiple sources of information in order to make decisions about them. For this reason, socio-scientific issues and the process of decision making about them are important subjects in science education. The related literature confirms that importance and many research focused on socio-scientific issues in various contexts. However, majority of related research are seemed intensified on teacher candidates whereas there is lack of studies at lower levels such as middle school. For these reasons in this research, it was aimed to investigate the decisions of gifted students regarding particular socio-scientific issues with their warrants and information sources on those decisions. MethodThe target group of the study was determined as gifted students since they are individuals who have a high potential of being scientists or choosing the careers with intensive scientific knowledge. They are candidates of those who can produce solutions to the world-wide socio-scientific problems in their future life. So, the participants of the study were 36 (21 male, 15 female) gifted middle school students studying in Sinop Science and Art Centre. The data source of the research was a form developed by the researchers 1 Corresponding author's address: Nurhan ÖZTÜRK,
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