Grounded within current reform recommendations and built upon Giere's views (1986, 1999) on model-based science, we propose an alternative approach to science education which we refer to as the "Evidence-Explanation (EE) Continuum." The approach addresses conceptual, epistemological, and social domains of knowledge, and places emphasis…

We present our design for a cell biology course to integrate content with scientific practices, specifically data interpretation and model-based reasoning. A 2-year research project within this course allowed us to understand how students interpret authentic biological data in this setting. Through analysis of written work, we measured the extent…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are composed of three intertwined dimensions--disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts--that provide a foundation for what students should know and be able to do at various grade levels. The eight science practices outlined in the NGSS are critical components…

The concept of science as argument, and the view that engaging in scientific argumentation should play a key role in science education, has become widely endorsed. The case is made here that this objective will be enhanced by broad understanding of the nature of argument skills and their directions and patterns of development. A line of research…

Professionally developed and freely accessible through the Internet, scientific data maps have great potential for teaching and learning with data in the science classroom. Solving problems or developing ideas while using data maps of Earth phenomena in the science classroom may help students to understand the nature and process of science. Little…

Examines student views about the interpretation of experimental data within a specified science context. A written survey was completed by 731 students drawn from upper secondary schools and universities in five European countries. Data support previous studies that found that science students tend not to recognize the role of theoretical models…

Recent research in science education has recognized the importance of history and philosophy of science. The objective of this study is to evaluate the presentation of the Thomson, Rutherford, and Bohr models of the atom in general physics textbooks based on criteria derived from history and philosophy of science. Forty-one general physics…