Science As Storytelling for Teaching the Nature of Science and the Science-Religion Interface

Participation in Biology Education Research Influences Students’ Epistemic Development

“…Students' conceptions of science and attitudes toward science were evaluated through surveys that were supplemented by open-ended responses. These pre-service teachers exhibited a better understanding of the creative and tentative aspects of science epistemology and had better attitudes toward science at the conclusion of the course compared with the beginning (Bickmore et al, 2009). These studies demonstrate the effectiveness of interventions for improving student understanding of science epistemology, but the assessments only report the outcomes of the interventions, leaving us to ask the questions of "how" and "why" students' epistemic understanding changed.…”

“…In a pre-post survey assessment, students rated their own understanding about the nature of scientific knowledge significantly higher in the posttest compared with the pretest (Hoskins et al, 2011). In another intervention, pre-service elementary school teachers in a geology class participated in a science as storytelling program as a way to teach introductory science students about scientific knowledge (Bickmore et al, 2009). In this program, students treated science as a form of storytelling with rules that align with scientific practice.…”

Cold Science Meets Hot Weather: Environmental Threats, Emotional Messages and Scientific Storytelling

“…While the scientific communication that feeds into this process is not part of the analysis, the function of scientific components (such as causalities, concepts, or figures) in the policy narratives suggest that they are associated with neutrality and objectivity (see e.g., Stone, 2012). This view seems to be encompassed by some advocators of scientific storytelling, seeing it as a particular narrative form that serves the function of transferring scientific truths to nonscientific contexts (see e.g., Bickmore, Thompson, Grandy, & Tomlin, 2009;Dahlstrom & Scheufele, 2018). In this study, we focus on this scientific storytelling.…”

“…However, it is important to not have an overly restricted view on emotions as effective instruments to change worldviews and behaviors. Such a view seems to be encompassed by some advocators of scientific storytelling who see it as a particular narrative form that facilitates the transfer of scientific truths to nonscientific contexts (see e.g., Bickmore et al, 2009;Dahlstrom, 2014;Dahlstrom & Scheufele, 2018).…”

Considering the Role and Nature of the Scientist

“…However, there is growing evidence that engaging students in stories and the human dimensions of scientists can improve attitudes and facilitate learning science concepts as well as the nature of science (Herreid, 2007;Hadzigeorgiou et al, 2012;Hong & Lin-Siegler, 2012;Erten et al, 2013). In particular, stories may potentially soften a perceived conflict between science and religion (Bickmore et al, 2009). Here, I describe an activity designed to address the attitudinal obstacle about learning evolution by using the history of science to encourage empathizing with Darwin.…”