Delineates factors which facilitate or impede the relationship between classroom practices and teachers' understanding of the nature of science. Finds that teachers' conceptions of science do not necessarily influence classroom practice, though teachers' level of experience, intentions and perceptions of students were critically influential on…

Develops the internal codes of scientific practice and the relationships between professional science and society that are the basis of scientific ethics from both an historical and a philosophical perspective. Makes suggestions for how the teaching of scientific ethics can be integrated into the undergraduate curriculum. Contains 49 references.…

Identifies both epistemic and political shortcomings in the portrayal of science found in curricular multicultural science education. This approach denies the unique characteristics of Western science as it ignores the particular strengths of other systems of thought and has the unexpected political effect of reaffirming scientism. Discusses a…

Advocates using the first day of physics class to discuss some unique aspects of the discipline and the course. Lists examples of appropriate discussion topics. (WRM)

Investigates how scientists, from both a practical and epistemological perspective, communicated the nature and relevance of their research to classroom teachers. Determines the congruence and/or dissimilarity in how scientists described their research to teachers and how they viewed their research epistemologically. Concludes that scientists from…

The priorities for science must change to confront the social and environmental problems brought on by the policies in science and technology during the past century. Contends that educators must have a clearer, broader understanding of the nature of science, its history, and its current structure in order to effect necessary changes in science…

Reports on the methods and outcomes of a teacher development project that exposed teachers to inquiry as it is practiced in the discipline of ecology. Explores factors that are potentially effective on teachers' professional development experiences in ecological inquiry. Examines the variations of teachers, starting points, grade levels, and…

Examines multiple ways in which autobiography informed the restructuring of an elementary classroom. Uses journals, interview transcripts, and electronic mail archives to document how the author provided a voice to students and used their perspectives to construct a teaching framework for elementary science education. (Contains 30 references.)…

Describes a study of the similarities and differences in graph-related interpretations between scientists and college students engaged in collective graph interpretation. Concludes that while many students learned to provide correct answers to scientific graphing questions, they did not come to make linguistic distinctions or increase their…

Reports on a comparative study of attitudes toward the aims of practical work given by science teachers from Egypt, Korea, and the United Kingdom. Finds that all three groups express a common attitude towards the aims of practical work that reflect an acknowledgement of the methods by which scientists make new knowledge. Contains 42 references.…

Investigates the effects of instruction and achievement on science question level for high and low science topic interests. Finds that students who received instruction in researchable questioning outperformed those who were not instructed, and that high achievers in mathematics, reading, or science outperformed low achievers. (Contains 41…

Examines the effects of adding a prediction/discussion phase at the beginning of a three-phase learning cycle involving exploration, term introduction, and concept application. Finds that the instructional innovation produced significant gains relative to the use of process skills, logical thinking skills, science concepts, and scientific…

Presents stories that illustrate how children learned lessons about the nature of science. These lessons include such ideas as observing closely and keep records, accessing resources, and collaborating with each other. Describes the use of a classroom bird station and nature walks in accomplishing the goals. (DDR)

Reform efforts emphasize teaching science to promote contemporary views of the nature of science (NOS) and scientific inquiry. Within the framework of situated cognition, the assertion is that engagement in inquiry activities similar to those of scientists provides a learning context conducive to developing knowledge about the methods and…

In this paper, we report work undertaken with a group of 11 UK teachers over a period of a year to teach aspects of the nature of science, its process, and its practices. The teachers, who taught science in a mix of elementary, junior high, and high schools, were asked to teach a set of "ideas-about-science" for which consensual support…