The portrayal of the nature of science in early childhood instructional materials

Abstract

Science education has a dual role for society as it seeks to help students to understand what is currently known and accepted in regards to the natural world the content as well as help students to come to understand how science works the nature of science. While both must occur simultaneously as one without the other will not lead to science literacy, explicit teaching of the nature of science (NOS) is often overlooked. Many explanations may account for this oversight, this thesis will explore the portrayal of NOS in early childhood instructional materials. While many of the aspects of the nature of science are inherently abstract ideas, early childhood students should be provided experiences that provide a foundation for an accurate understanding later. Otherwise, misconceptions are developed early on and then reinforced leading to a very fuzzy portrayal for students.

The portrayal of the nature of science in upper elementary instructional materials

“…Because elementary teachers have less content knowledge than their secondary colleagues, they are even more likely than secondary teachers to rely upon curriculum materials to define the content and experiences for science instruction. Schrauth (2009) showed that early primary materials had woefully inadequate portrayals of the nature of science, assuming that students would learn accurate NOS ideas implicitly, and even conveyed misconceptions that likely fit with teachers' documented NOS misconceptions. Since curriculum materials can serve an educative role, far more information is needed about NOS portrayals at the elementary level and the extent to which such materials are educating both teachers and students in accurate ways.…”

“…To assess the presence and accuracy of the nature of science in upper elementary curriculum materials, this study was designed to address the following research questions: This study will use qualitative methods used in the Schrauth (2009) study to analyze curriculum materials published for grade 3-5 students. This study, and that of Schrauth (2009), was based on the following NOS concepts that have been commonly asserted as appropriate for K-5 students:…”

“…This study will be the first to examine the presence and accuracy of the nature of science in upper elementary instructional materials. This study, coupled with the findings of Schrauth (2009), will be of use to those who can improve the current state of elementary science curriculum materials. This study will also lay groundwork for future research on efforts to improve students' views of the nature of science.…”

“…Yet each of these efforts is predicated on the fact that secondary students have established misconceptions about what science is and how it works. These misconceptions have originated elsewhere as these misconceptions are intact at the middle school level (Schrauth, 2009), yet almost no attention has been placed on accurately teaching the nature of science to elementary students.…”

“…In one of the few extant studies on the NOS in the elementary grades, Schrauth (2009) analyzed the representation of the nature of science in lower primary instructional materials. He found an almost total lack of mention of how science works, or what science is.…”