This qualitative study analyses how effective an activity based on the critical and reflexive reading of the historical case of Rosalind Franklin and the elucidation of the molecular structure of DNA can be for learning about the nature of science (NOS). The aspects of NOS addressed are the plurality of methods in scientific research, research…

In this study, the experience of prospective science teachers, who watched a cinema film adapted from the life story of a well-known scientist for the first time in an informal environment, was examined. Answers of two questions were sought in the study: (1) What aspects of the nature of science did the prospective science teachers experience…

Both accurate monitoring and adequate control are crucial for effective self-regulation when learning from problem-solving tasks. Prior research has shown that self-regulated learning is especially harmful for low prior knowledge students, given their difficulties with accurate monitoring and control decisions. Although many studies have indicated…

We repeated the historical infra-red radiation experiments performed by Melloni, to investigate why, at the end of his life, he came to the conclusion that radiation from light and heat rely on the same basic principle, what has been translated as the so called unitary formalism. In doing so, we profited from a Master thesis on heat radiation and…

In this article, the educative value of scientific biographies will be explored, especially for non-science major college students. During the "Scientist's life and thought" course, 66 college students read nine scientific biographies including five biologists, covering the canonical scientific achievements in Western scientific history.…

The purpose of the single case life history study was to understand a female science teacher's conceptions of the nature of science as explicit in her practice. While this paper highlights these understandings, an additional purpose is to give a detailed account of the process of creating a life history account through more than 13 in-depth…

Mendel and his peas. Goodall and her chimpanzees. Bentley and his snowflakes. Pasteur and his sheep. Not only do these stories intrigue students, but they also demonstrate the trials and tribulations associated with scientific inquiry. Using scientists' biographies piques student interest while providing an added dimension to their understanding…

Monk and Osborne ("Sci Educ" 81:405-424, 1997) provide a rigorous justification for why history and philosophy of science should be incorporated as an integral component of instruction and a model for how history of science should be used to promote learning of and about science. In the following essay we critique how history of science is used on…

Very often science is taught in schools devoid of the people and events behind the research. Yet there is much that can be discovered about the nature of science when we examine the lives of scientists. Recently I read James Watson's "The Double Helix" and Brenda Maddox's biography of Rosalind Franklin, "Rosalind Franklin The Dark Lady of DNA." It…

The main purpose of this study is to investigate a science teacher's beliefs and understanding of the nature of science (NOS) in order to be able to relate these beliefs about the NOS to classroom practice and therefore student experience. Teachers' beliefs about the NOS are embedded in their experiences of learning and teaching science and hence,…

This paper elaborates on the life and publications of Joseph Priestley, the eighteenth-century polymath. The paper outlines his particular place in the European Enlightenment; it stresses the importance of philosophy and worldview in his scientific work on pneumatic chemistry, the composition of air, and his discovery of the process of…

Reviews the life of Sir Isaac Newton, stressing his contributions to science and society. (CS)

In his remarkable treatise Reflexes of the Brain (1863) Sechenov developed a detailed program which, properly evaluated, laid the foundation for an objective science of psychology not only in Russia but on a world scale. (Author)

Maxwell's four major papers and some shorter publications relating to kinetic theory and statistical mechanics are discussed in the light of subsequent research. Reviews Maxwell's ideas on such topics as velocity, distribution law, the theory of heat conduction, the mechanism of the radiometer effect, the ergodic hypothesis, and his views on the…