In this paper, we use the "Family Resemblance Approach" (FRA) as a framework to characterize how scientists view the nature of science (NOS). FRA presents NOS as a "system" that includes clusters or categories of ideas about the cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional aspects of science. For example, the…

The paper aims to provide a review of literature that emphasizes students' and teachers' views on the nature of science (NOS) and associated instructional approaches to develop adequate understanding of the NOS that have been employed in different contexts. One hundred and seventy-two (172) studies were selected from ResearchGate, Academia, Google…

In this article, we tackle the phenomenon of what seems to be a misunderstanding between science education theory and philosophy of science--one which does not seem to have received any attention in the literature. While there seems to be a consensus within the realm of science education on limiting or altogether denying the explanatory role of…

For many years, hegemonic approaches to teaching the nature of science (NOS) have focused mainly on understanding some epistemic (i.e., rational, or cognitive) aspects involved in the construction of science. So, aspects of a non-epistemic (i.e., non-rational, contextual, or extra-scientific) nature have been practically neglected in these…

Nature of science (NOS) is considered an important component of scientific literacy. Supporting students to develop a comprehensive NOS understanding is one of the most commonly described objectives within science education. Moreover, history of science can arguably provide a good context for NOS teaching and learning; it has been suggested that…

In this article we analyze the classic Hodgkin and Keynes 1955 paper describing investigations of the independence principle, with the expectation that there is much students and educators can learn from such exercises, most notably how the authors applied their diverse skill set to tackling the numerous obstacles that the study presented. The…

The philosophy of science (POS) has gained recognition for its contributions to science education, particularly in integrating the history and philosophy of science (HPS). However, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive review that systematically investigates the implications and limitations of POS in science education research. This study…

This study investigated evidence of how students' mental models of fundamental kinematic relations evolved (i.e., developed cognitively over time) as observed during an introductory course in calculus-based classical mechanics. The core of the curriculum is based on a claim known as Galileo's principle of relativity. The course material comprised…

This study aimed to determine preservice science teachers' (PST) attitudes towards the Reconceptualized Family Resemblance Approach to the Nature of Science and to examine PST attitudes towards this approach according to grade levels. The study group consists of 75 people studying in the 3rd and 4th year of undergraduate education. The sample of…

Many studies have characterized students' difficulties in understanding and reasoning about scientific mechanisms. Some of those studies have drawn implications on teaching mechanisms and how to guide students while reasoning mechanistically. In this theoretical article, I claim that one component that has not garnered much attention in the…

The professionalization of teachers is a fundamental and decisive issue for all education systems. This text presents a qualitative research on an original experiment in training future primary school teachers in the nature of science (NOS) and its transposition into teaching practice. It is a script for reading the children's book, "7 souris…

Argumentation constitutes an important element in nature of science education. However, its virtues and scope can be overstated. Here, we survey in detail the place of argumentation in science education. Our benchmark is the range of epistemic processes relevant to citizens and consumers as they assess the reliability of scientific claims in…

The notion of family resemblance has recently emerged as a promising and fruitful approach to characterising the nature of science (NOS) in science education research, offering solutions to some perplexing challenges such as capturing both the domain-general and domain-specific features of science with a single framework. At the same time,…

Nature of Science (NOS) has been enumerated as one of the important elements in education because robust conceptions of NOS is essential for individuals to be considered as scientific literate. As teachers are vital in imparting sound NOS conceptions to their students, they must possess sound NOS conceptions. However, studies have shown that…

This paper offers an exploratory account of the Nature of Geography (NOG) for geography education. The proposed NOG framework describes geography through the theoretical offerings of the family resemblance approach across the dimensions of: aims and values; knowledge; methods and methodological rules; practices; and geography as a…