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ERIC Number: EJ1474347
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jun
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0926-7220
EISSN: EISSN-1573-1901
Available Date: 2024-01-22
The Non-Epistemic Dimension, at Last a Key Component in Mainstream Theoretical Approaches to Teaching the Nature of Science
Science & Education, v34 n3 p1149-1165 2025
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 predominant proposals for teaching NOS. However, those of us who advocate a more holistic NOS teaching, with a balanced integration of both epistemic and non-epistemic aspects of NOS, have reason to celebrate. The development of the family resemblance approach (FRA) to NOS, initially proposed by Irzik and Nola (2011, 2014), and then suitably adapted by Erduran and Dagher (2014) for science education, has cemented such a purpose in the current literature on NOS teaching research. But, like all scientific milestones, there are antecedents that, in some way, have also contributed to building the path that has brought us to this point. Therefore, it is fair to acknowledge them. Thus, the aim of this article is to provide a critical discussion of all of this and to make an explicit acknowledgement of some of these antecedents, such as the framework of the science-technology-society (STS) tradition, among others, without undermining the important role of the FRA in achieving the current predominant vision of holistic NOS teaching.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Universidad de Sevilla, Departamento de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales y Sociales, Seville, Spain