Over the past half-century, numerous attempts have been made to derive the centripetal acceleration formula by treating circular motion as a superposition of uniform and accelerated rectilinear motions over short time intervals. Critical examination reveals that these methods are manifestations of the same approach pioneered by Huygens to…

This essay analyses the theme of representational pluralism in science education and a possible interpretation through the inferential-pragmatic conception of scientific representations. A brief description of two principal conceptions of scientific representations (the semantic-structural and the inferential-pragmatic conceptions) and their…

Representational pluralism is a perspective that acknowledges that it is normal and even desirable in some circumstances to hold incompatible representations in one's mind regarding a natural phenomenon. This pluralist perspective has been defended in cognitive science, psychology, philosophy of science and science education, raising several…

Contemporary sciences, including the didactics of science, employ computational simulations as tools in their academic endeavors. The construction and application of these simulations are of interest to didactics as they contribute to shaping new perspectives on scientific activity. Consequently, they warrant special attention in…

Scientists and science educators have argued that learners (students, preservice teachers, and inservice teachers) should understand knowledge construction in science, in addition to figuring out disciplinary core ideas. Given this goal, some science education scholars created a construct called the "Nature of Science" (NOS), which aims…

Despite the abundance of literature discussing Kuhnian views, it is rare to find studies that comprehensively compare the arguments of Kuhnian supporters and skeptics. This study aims to fill the gap by providing a comparative review and synthesis between the two groups of views using the systematic literature review (SLR) analysis technique. The…

While some researchers argue that theories and abstract knowledge are unreliable bases for teachers' work, a wide range of research stresses the need to overcome the gap between theory and practice, or abstract academic knowledge and experience-based knowledge. Here, Silvia Edling maintains that it is relevant to ask why the relationship is…

This study analyzes the elements of the nature of science (NOS) with respect to environmental issues in middle-school science textbooks, covering three collections (nine and 12 books) from South Korea and Brazil, respectively. Content analysis was used to categorize the elements of the NOS using the reconceptualized family resemblance approach to…

This systematic review summarized 42 selected empirical studies on the representations of nature of science (NOS) in science textbooks guided by three theoretical frameworks, which are the four-theme scientific literacy (SL), the consensus view on nature of science (CV), and the family resemblance approach to the nature of science (FRA). This…

Developing an adequate understanding of the nature of science includes developing an understanding of the uses and importance of models in science. General accounts of science aimed at university students, however, tend to neglect this aspect. A noticeable exception is the simple model of the key elements of a scientific result presented by Giere,…

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…

This study explored the impact of an extended explicit-reflective instruction through a triple blended learning environment (triple-BLE) on pre-service science teachers' (PSTs) views of the nature of science (NOS). The triple-BLE included face-to-face (F2F), online, and out-of-school time (OST) engagement over two semesters. The study employed a…

Conceptualizing the nature of science (NOS) is a crucial component of science education, as it facilitates students' comprehension of how scientific knowledge is developed. Unfortunately, teachers can themselves hold inaccurate views of NOS or assume students can infer NOS ideas from instruction or by undertaking experiments. Building on previous…

Science knowledge is deeply intertwined with human values, ethics and societal needs. While science is often perceived as value-neutral, the authors argue that the intertwined nature of science and values can be modelled from the early stages of education. This article shares examples of how individual, collective, and planetary values can shape…

Science education literature states that fostering students' and teachers' knowledge of NOS has shifted from being a desirable goal to an essential one. This article focuses on the development of NOS conceptions among MA Education students. To develop those conceptions, the researcher designed various learning activities in the context of…