There is often a steady trajectory of curriculum change under the surface of developments that might seem arbitrary or inconsistent. This article traces the change from key competencies to science capabilities and, most recently, to enduring competencies. All these changes (and names) respond to increasing awareness of the challenges involved in…

This article describes the development of a questionnaire to discover primary school students' perceptions of science, religion and the relationships between them on a range of topics that are known as Big Questions. The questionnaire was administered in 16 primary schools in England with over 750 students aged 10-11. The findings indicate that…

Understanding Nature of Science (NOS) is a requisite for improving scientific literacy, and as such, it is increasingly being included in science curricula worldwide. It is now therefore important that teachers understand NOS so that intended learning outcomes become visible in the classroom. Pre-service teachers also need an opportunity to…

Nature of science (NOS) is a key component of scientific literacy, so science teacher education on NOS is critical to ensure students' scientific literacy. According to mainstream NOS literature, explicit and reflective interventions are recommended to effectively teach NOS. This paper presents an experience for the initial education of secondary…

Climate change education often relies on climate science's mantra that climate change is human induced, not natural. In a posttruth world, this can seem unequivocally necessary. However, I worry that this perpetuates the human/nature dualism and may thus reiterate the very distinction we are seeking to transgress. In this article, I outline my…

There is a need to improve science comprehension in the United States. Incorporating scientific principles into the study of food production provides context to engage youth in STEM education. The Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) is an inquiry-based program that stimulates scientific engagement. While agriscience teachers…

Background: An elaborated understanding of Nature of Science (NOS) is seen as an important part of scientific literacy. In order to enable teachers to adequately discuss NOS in their lessons, various approaches have recently been employed to improve teachers' understanding of NOS. Purpose: This study investigated the effect of participating in a…

The purpose of this study was to describe connections among students' views of nature of science in relation to the goals of a curriculum delivered in a unique setting, one where a researcher and two teachers collaborated to develop a course devoted to teaching students about how knowledge is built in science. Students proceeded through a cycle of…

As the breadth and depth of economic reforms increase in China, growing attention is being paid to equalities in opportunities to learn science by students of various backgrounds. In early 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology jointly sponsored a national survey of urban eighth-grade students' science…

Reports concerns of the committee with both science and non-science majors. Scientific literacy, systems approach to instruction, symbolic communications, attitudinal changes, and behavioral objectives are among the topics identified. (TS)

Analyzes how educators currently frame historical stories to portray the process of science. Discusses the importance of narratives of error and recovery from error in illustrating the nature of science and its limits. Emphasizes history that conveys the nature of science effectively. (Author/KHR)

Argues that the British national curriculum has made science exciting for students aged 5-16 and that future development should be informed much more explicitly by the underpinning rationale and philosophy of the subject. (DDR)

This paper documents a pilot study designed to explore the ideas of high school students regarding the nature and role of theories, an aspect of the nature of science (NOS) that continues to be problematic for students, teachers, and the general public. Although there is a much greater emphasis on the nature of science in standards documents,…

Presents a Public Health Service (PHS) program as a model for implementing the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) instructional program. Describes an ethical decision making framework designed to guide a discussion of issues surrounding the responsible conduct of research and facilitates the consideration of ethical choices in the context of…