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,…

The importance of the philosophy of science in science teacher education has long been argued for by science educators. In particular, understanding how scientific knowledge is generated, negotiated, and developed is a key area of the philosophy of science that is relevant to science teaching. However, research on the nature of scientific…

Spatio-temporal processes are ubiquitous and prevalent across disciplines. Understanding the mechanisms underlying processes and integrating this information into models is of great interest, as it can improve forecasting accuracy and align with scientific motivation. Examples of such models include Partial Differential Equation (PDE) Models or…

There is increasing recognition of the multimodal representational nature of science discovery practices and the roles of multiple and multimodal representations in students' meaning making in science (Lemke, 1998; Tytler, Prain, Hubber, & Waldrip, 2013; Tang, "International Journal of Science Education," 38(13), 2069-2095, 2016).…

The paper discusses some interesting, mainly philosophical paradigms of the modeling and control areas, which are still partly unsolved and/or only partially studied. First the possible introduction of a prejudice free control--similar to the term for the modeling introduced by Rudi Kalman--is investigated. Next the real constraints in real…

In the 2 day lesson presented in this article, students explain how ionic substances interact in solutions by developing and revising their own explanatory models. The lesson engaged students in three-dimensional learning through creating and revising their own models to explain the interaction of ionic substances and polar molecules in a closed…

Modeling, like inquiry more generally, is not a single method, but rather a complex suite of strategies. Philosophers of biology, citing the diverse aims, interests, and disciplinary cultures of biologists, argue that modeling is best understood in the context of its epistemic aims and cognitive payoffs. In the science education literature,…

Citizen Science projects offer opportunities for non-scientists to take part in scientific research. Scientific results from these projects have been well documented. However, there is limited research about how these projects affect their volunteer participants. In this study, I investigate how participation in an online, collaborative…

The basic premise of this paper is the fact that science has become a major industry: the knowledge industry. The paper throws some light on the reasons for the transformation of science from a limited, constrained and marginal craft into a major industry. It, then, presents a productivist industrial model of knowledge production, which shows its…

Finite element modelling software has been used to allow secondary school students to study nanoscale magnetic materials for hard drive recording applications. The students were introduced to the basic concepts of finite element modelling using a freely available internet game before modelling the magnetization reversal of single magnetic grains.…

Science education models for secondary and college students as well as K-12 teachers have been dominated by classroom-based approaches. Recently, research apprenticeships wherein learners worked with practicing scientists on authentic scientific research have become increasingly popular. The purpose of this critical review of the literature was to…

Design-based research, and particularly its theoretical status, is a subject of debate in the science education community. In the first part of this paper, a theoretical framework drawn up to develop design-based research will be presented. This framework is mainly based on epistemological analysis of physics modelling, learning and teaching…

Teaching the use of models in scientific research requires a description, in general terms, of how scientists actually use models in their research activities. This paper aims to arrive at defining common characteristics of models that are used in present-day scientific research. Initially, a list of common features of models and modelling, based…

Discusses the existence of matter in smaller groups known as clusters. Applications of the findings in scientific studies are presented as they relate to technology. (SA)

This document presents a discussion of the postulated mechanism that leads to the materialization and dematerialization of matter and to antigravity. The mechanism also explains why an orbital electron does not radiate energy, in contradiction to classical electromagnetic theory. One of the paradoxes of special relativity is explained. A new model…