An Analysis of the Actual Processes of Physicists’ Research and the Implications for Teaching Scientific Inquiry in School

Abstract

Investigation of scientists' actual processes of conducting research can provide us with more realistic aspects of scientific inquiry. This study was performed to identify three aspects of scientists' actual research: their motivations for scientific inquiry, the scientific inquiry skills they used, and the main types of results obtained from their research. To do this, we interviewed six prominent physicists about why and how they researched and what they obtained from their research results. We also analyzed their published papers. In the previous part of this study, types and features of the physicists' research motivations were identified (Park and Jang, Journal of the Korean Physical Society, 47(3), [401][402][403][404][405][406][407][408] 2005). In this article, as the second part of the study, it was found:(1) Various inquiry skills including theoretical as well as experimental research skills and the social skills of scientific inquiry were used in physicists' research. (2) New inventions, articulation of, and falsification of the previous findings were regarded as important research results. (3) Physicists' research processes were often non-linear and cyclical. For each of these findings, implications for teaching scientific inquiry in schools were developed. Finally, we proposed a model of scientific inquiry process consisting of research motives, scientific inquiry skills, and results of inquiry.

Creating a Culture of Inquiry in the Classroom While Fostering an Understanding of Theoretical Concepts in Direct Current Electric Circuits: A Balanced Approach

“…Students cannot be expected to reinvent theoretical concepts entirely through inductive experimental activities; therefore, student experiments have to be accompanied by deductive, semideductive, or hypothesis-driven considerations. Moreover, most authentic inquiry in physics starts from a theory-driven or hypothesis-driven motive (Park, Jang & Kim, 2009). Third, teachers have to support students to move from schooloriented norms toward scientifically oriented norms.…”

Creating young scientists through community science projects

“…Scientific inquiry is a way that scientists use for explaining the natural world and it is also the fundamental practice of science (Bybee, 2004). The teaching of scientific inquiry usually does not reflect authentic professionalism and thus distort the nature of science (Chinn & Mahotra, 2002;Park, Jang, & Kim, 2009).…”

“…Scientific inquiry skills include formulating and evaluating hypotheses, identifying and controlling variables, conducting experiments, interpreting and comparing results, and inferring conclusions (Ting & Phon-Amnuaisuk, 2010). Many educators have suggested that the process of inquiry is necessary to teach students to think scientifically (Park, Jang, & Kim, 2009;Windschitl, 2004). Windschitl (2004) claimed that the process of scientific inquiry is not a linear one.…”

“…Windschitl (2004) claimed that the process of scientific inquiry is not a linear one. The process of scientific inquiry must proceed as a cyclical process (Park, Jang, & Kim, 2009) during which students can check their understanding of scientific inquiry process by themselves and with their peers. As mentioned above, these scientific characteristics must bring about improvement of students' skills.…”

Scientists' Perceptions of Imagination and Characteristics of the Scientific Imagination

“…따라서 상상력에 대한 관 점을 정의하고, 그에 따른 특성을 탐색하는 연구가 이 루어져야 한다. 과학자는 과학 연구를 통해 눈에 보이지 않는 것을 시각화하여 모형을 만들고, 결과로부터 새로운 현상 을 설명하며 (김영민, 2006;Park et al, 2009;West, 1991), 이 과정에서 상상력이 발휘된다. 과학 자의 상상력은 과학적 성취와 과학자의 사고과정을 포함한 과학 활동에서 중요한 역할을 수행한다는 점 에서 과학 교육 연구에서 중요하게 다루어져야 한다.…”