The aims of this research are 1) to explore the inter-relationships within the individual elements or tenets of Nature of Science (NOS), based on the dimensions of scientific knowledge in science learning, and 2) to consider Kuhn's concept of how scientific revolution takes place. This study suggests that instruction according to our NOS Flowchart…

This study examined the extent to which the instructional practices of science teachers in Barbados are congruent with best practices for teaching for scientific literacy. Additionally, through observation of practice, it sought to determine the teachers' demonstrated role in the classroom, their demonstration of learning through discourse,…

Graphs in physics are central to the analysis of phenomena and to learning about a system's behavior. The ways students handle graphs are frequently researched. Students' misconceptions are highlighted, and methods of improvement suggested. While kinematics graphs are to represent a real motion, they are also algebraic entities that must satisfy…

The work describes an analogy-based small oscillations analysis of a standard static equilibrium lab problem. In addition to force analysis, a potential energy function for the system is developed, and by drawing out mathematical similarities to the simple harmonic oscillator, we are able to describe (and experimentally verify) the period of small…

Despite its popularity in education studies literature, interdisciplinary science education is mostly considered outside the multitude of social forces that drive education reform. This has contributed to a mythologizing of interdisciplinary science education and lead to assumptions about the necessity of its intervention into science education…

The design and fabrication of functional scientific instrumentation allows students to forge a link between commonly reported numbers and physical material properties. Here, a two-point and four-point probe station for measuring electrical properties of solid materials is fabricated via 3D printing utilizing an inexpensive benchtop…

The year 2014 marked the four-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of Galileo's birth, making it the perfect occasion to present and illustrate a GeoGebra applet which reproduces some of Galileo's celebrated experiments on the uniformly accelerated motion, as reported on in "Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New…

In this article, the argument is put forth that controversies about the scope and limits of science should be considered in Nature of Science (NOS) teaching. Reference disciplines for teaching NOS are disciplines, which reflect upon science, like philosophy of science, history of science, and sociology of science. The culture of these disciplines…

Using a conventional notation for representing forces on diagrams, students were presented with questions on the interaction between two objects. The results show that complete understanding of Newton's Third Law of Motion is quite rare, and that some problems relate to misunderstanding which force acts on each body. The use of the terms…

Many scholars and science curricula from around the world describe socioscientific issues (SSIs) as meaningful contexts for teaching about the nature of science (NOS). These calls are guided by the assumption that science teachers are able to identify relevant aspects of the NOS in a given SSI and to decide how to utilize these for NOS…

The use of creativity in science practices is many times lost on secondary students. Creativity is seen as something central to the arts and humanities, but tangential at best in the sciences. However, an examination of many great scientific discoveries and the work of everyday contemporary scientists shows the depth and breadth of the use of…

Developing pre-service science teachers' epistemic insight remains a challenge, despite decades of research in related bodies of work such as the nature of science (NOS) in science education. While there may be numerous aspects to this problem, one critical element is that the NOS is a meta-concept that demands higher-order cognitive skills. One…

In this article, I explore the tension between the current political context in which science needs defending against anti-intellectualism and outright assaults on evidence as a means of decision-making on the one hand and the overzealous scientism that can result from backlash against a perceived lack of rigor in various forms of inquiry. To do…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are responsible for teaching the majority of biology undergraduate laboratory sections, although many feel underprepared to do so. This study explored the impact of biology GTA participation in a professional development model known as lesson study. Using a case study methodology with multiple qualitative data…

Very little research examines the critical intersection between science and special education (SPED), let alone between the nature of science (NOS) and SPED. Thus, this study focused on preservice SPED teachers' conceptions of NOS, their NOS instructional practices, and their perceptions of the influence of course components on their NOS…