The impact of explicit instruction on undergraduate students' understanding of the Nature of Science

Vhurumuku, Elaosi

doi:10.1080/10288457.2010.10740676

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…As Khishfe and Abd-El-Khalick (2002) indicated, assuming students develop NOS conceptions implicitly by being engaged in science-based inquiry activities is not an effective strategy for developing sophisticated NOS views. Studies showed that a combination of explicit and implicit NOS instruction is more effective in developing NOS conceptions (Akerson et al, 2000;Bell et al, 2011;McDonald, 2010;Vhurumuku, 2010). Developing students' NOS conception is a cognitive instructional outcome.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioscientific Reasoning Competencies and Nature of Science Conceptions of Undergraduate Students from Different Faculties

Irmak

2020

SEI

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Understanding undergraduate students' socioscientific reasoning (SSR) competencies and nature of science (NOS) conceptions are important for them to be informed citizens. Therefore, in this study, SSR competencies and NOS conceptions of 169 undergraduate students from five different faculties were investigated through survey research methodology. The descriptive analysis of the participants' scores indicated that their SSR competencies and NOS conceptions were at a moderate level. The participants struggled most with the dimensions of skepticism and inquiry in SSR and with the dimension of methods and methodological rules in NOS. However, they obtained better scores in perspective-taking in SSR and socio-institutional systems in NOS. When the differences among the faculties were investigated, science students were found to have significantly lower scores on both SSR and NOS. Conversely, health science and engineering students got better scores on both. Finally, there was no significant relationship between SSR and NOS scores of participants. The differences in participants' scores were discussed based on the differences in the curriculums of faculties and implications that were provided for educators. To develop SSR competencies and NOS conceptions of undergraduate students, different departments can collaborate by offering courses from different perspectives to other departments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioscientific Reasoning Competencies and Nature of Science Conceptions of Undergraduate Students from Different Faculties

Irmak

2020

SEI

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“…A survey of NOS literature in the African context indicates that the focus of the studies has been on exploring teachers' views on NOS (Dekkers & Mnisi, 2003;Dekkers, 2006;Ogunniyi, 2006) and undergraduate students' understandings of NOS (Ibrahim, Buffler & Lubben, 2009;Vhurumuku, 2010). Studies (Ogunniyi, 2006;Vhurumuku, 2010) revealed that explicit-reflective instruction in NOS constituting elements of history and philosophy of science and scientific inquiry activities (Dekkers, 2006) assisted in improving participants' understandings of NOS.…”

Section: Introduction and Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…However, research indicates that professional development programmes on explicit, reflective instruction of NOS that engage teachers in scientific inquiry (Akerson & Hanuscin, 2007;Saad & BouJaoude, 2012;Herman, Clough & Olson, 2013) and cover components on the history and philosophy of science (Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 2000;Linneman, Kurup, Webb & Bantwini 2003;Ogunniyi, 2006;Vhurumuku, 2010) have been effective in enhancing teachers' conceptions in NOS. According to Schwartz and Lederman (2002), explicit-reflective instruction in the NOS involves the teaching and assessment of NOS concepts as cognitive outcomes which should include appropriate case studies from history, philosophy and sociology of science (Abd-El-Khalick, 2005).…”

Section: Introduction and Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, students' ideas in relation to epistemic aspects of NOS (e.g. experiments are necessary to 'prove' theoretical claims) were resistant to change (Vhurumuku, 2010). Ibrahim et al (2009) found that, although a substantial number of students (44%) displayed informed understandings of NOS, some participants subscribed to less The Relationship Between Science Teachers' Understandings of the Nature of Science and their Classroom Practices 53 informed notions such as that laws and theories are 'fixed' and 'stable' awaiting discovery, and that scientists adhere to a set method in generating knowledge.…”

Section: Introduction and Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Studies (Ogunniyi, 2006;Vhurumuku, 2010) revealed that explicit-reflective instruction in NOS constituting elements of history and philosophy of science and scientific inquiry activities (Dekkers, 2006) assisted in improving participants' understandings of NOS. However, students' ideas in relation to epistemic aspects of NOS (e.g.…”

Section: Introduction and Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 98%

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The Relationship Between Science Teachers' Understandings of the Nature of Science and their Classroom Practices

Kurup¹

2014

African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technol

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An adequate understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) has become increasingly important for science teachers in the context of the recent curriculum revisions being implemented in Grades R-9 in South African schools. This study explored the NOS conceptions and the influence of these conceptions on the classroom practice of two groups of practising science teachers-a group of three teachers who received explicit instruction in NOS in a semester-long (36 h) professional development programme and an alternative group of three teachers who had not received any explicit instruction in NOS previously. The quantitative data gathered from the responses to a 12-item Likert-scale questionnaire and the qualitative data from semi-structured interviews were analysed to seek the teachers' views on six NOS aspects related to the epistemological and ontological nature of science. A video-taped science lesson of each teacher was analysed using a classroom observation schedule to examine the extent to which each of the six NOS aspects targeted was mediated in the classroom. A mixed-methods approach has been adopted in this study. The results indicate that the teachers who received explicit instruction in NOS displayed better understandings in some aspects of NOS compared with those who were not exposed to NOS instruction. Nevertheless teachers from both groups continue to experience difficulties in mediating informed notions of the socio-cultural influence on the scientific enterprise, the role of imagination and creativity in scientific process and the purpose of and distinction between theories and laws. Implications of the findings for in-service teacher programmes and recommendations for further research are suggested.

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Students’ Views of Nature of Science

Yacoubian

2021

Sci & Educ

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The impact of explicit instruction on undergraduate students' understanding of the Nature of Science

Cited by 11 publications

References 31 publications

Socioscientific Reasoning Competencies and Nature of Science Conceptions of Undergraduate Students from Different Faculties

Socioscientific Reasoning Competencies and Nature of Science Conceptions of Undergraduate Students from Different Faculties

The Relationship Between Science Teachers' Understandings of the Nature of Science and their Classroom Practices

Students’ Views of Nature of Science

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