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Descriptors:
Intellectual Disciplines; Individual Characteristics; Multivariate Analysis; Science Teachers; Scientific Principles; Statistical Analysis; Beliefs; Science Instruction; Science Education; Scores; Teacher Education; Teacher Education Programs; Foreign Countries; Secondary School Science; Questionnaires; Likert Scales; Factor Analysis; Predictor Variables; Preservice Teachers; Scientific Attitudes

Abstract:
This quantitative study (n = 247) explores whether preservice science teachers express science-specific identities that reflect multiple areas of their beliefs (e.g., purpose for science teaching, inclusion of science-technology-society-environment issues into science teaching, and nature of science) as well as other individual characteristics (e.g., focus of university training, perception of self within professional communities, and interest in becoming a teacher). Hierarchical cluster analysis showed a three-cluster solution representing three subject-specific identities: Model Citizen, Model Science Teacher, and Model Non-Science Teacher. Additional analysis (multinomial logistic regression) revealed cluster membership associated with preservice science teachers' most comfortable teaching subject. (Contains 4 tables, 2 figures, and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Preservice Teachers; Undergraduate Students; Elementary School Teachers; Inquiry; Scientific Research; Scientific Principles; Student Attitudes; Scientific Concepts; Science Instruction; Education Courses; Preservice Teacher Education; Outcomes of Education; Curriculum Development; Curriculum Implementation

Abstract:
While some researchers have argued for science classrooms that embrace open-inquiry by engaging students in doing science as scientists do (cf. National Research Council [NRC] 1996; Driver et al. in "Sci Educ" 84:287-312, 2000; Windschitl et al. in "Sci Educ" 87(1):112-143, 2008), others have argued that open-inquiry is impractical, ineffective, and perhaps even counter-productive towards promoting normative scientific ideas (cf. Kirschner et al. in "Educ Psychol" 41(2):75-86, 2006; Settlage in "J Sci Teach Educ" 18:461-467, 2007). One of the challenges in informing the debate on this issue is the scarcity of well-documented courses that engage students in open-inquiry characteristic of scientific research. This paper describes the design, implementation, and outcomes of such a course for undergraduates planning on becoming elementary teachers. The goal of the class was to immerse future teachers in authentic, open-inquiry (without specific learning goals related to scientific concepts) in hopes that students would come away with a deeper understanding of the nature of science (NOS) and improved attitudes towards science. Data collected from a variety of sources indicate that an authentic, open-inquiry experience is feasible to implement in an undergraduate setting, gives students a more sophisticated NOS understanding, improves students' attitudes towards science and open-inquiry, and changes the way they intend to teach science in their future classrooms. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Oceanography; Science Instruction; Science Laboratories; Science Experiments; Physics; Scientific Principles; Literacy; Hypothesis Testing; Secondary School Science

Abstract:
Pressure increases rapidly with depth in a water body. Ocean and Great Lakes scientists often use this physical feature of water as the basis of a fun pastime performed aboard research vessels around the world: the shrinking of polystyrene cups. Depending on the depth to which the cups are deployed, the results can be quite striking! Capitalizing on this fascinating display of ocean physics, the authors describe an activity designed to familiarize students with the effects of increased water depth on pressure and volume. This activity incorporates ocean and aquatic sciences into classroom curricula, an important goal of the Ocean Literacy Campaign and associated Great Lakes Literacy Campaign. Students will develop hypotheses to investigate the effects of depth and thus pressure on the volume of polystyrene cups. To test their hypotheses, they will determine the volume of polystyrene cups before and after they are submerged to differing depths in the ocean and the Laurentian Great Lakes. Students will also calculate the density of the cups and learn about the depths of the world's ocean and the Great Lakes. This lab also encourages students to contact scientists and engage with professionals in the field of oceanography and limnology. (Contains 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Teaching Methods; Biology; Epistemology; Scientific Literacy; Investigations; Science Activities; Educational Philosophy; Educational Practices; Scientific Concepts; Scientific Methodology; Scientific Principles; Benchmarking; Evolution; Integrated Curriculum

Abstract:
Evolutionary developmental biology (Evo-devo) is a vibrant area of contemporary life science that should be (and is) increasingly incorporated into teaching curricula. Although the inclusion of this content is important for biological pedagogy at multiple levels of instruction, there are also philosophical lessons that can be drawn from the scientific practices found in Evo-devo. One feature of particular significance is the interdisciplinary nature of Evo-devo investigations and their resulting explanations. Instead of a single disciplinary approach being the most explanatory or fundamental, different methodologies from biological disciplines must be synthesized to generate empirically adequate explanations. Thus, Evo-devo points toward a non-reductionist epistemology in biology. I review three areas where these synthetic efforts become manifest as a result of Evo-devo's practices (form versus function reasoning styles; problem-structured investigations; idealizations related to studying model organisms), and then sketch some possible applications to teaching biology. These philosophical considerations provide resources for life science educators to address (and challenge) key aspects of the "National Science Education Standards" and "Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy." Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Biology; Models; Science Education; Educational Strategies; Learning Strategies; Epistemology; Role Perception; Educational Philosophy; Scientific Concepts; Scientific Principles; Scientific Research; Scientific Literacy; Educational Practices; Modeling (Psychology); Definitions

Abstract:
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, modeling has been discussed in a variety of ways, but often without explicit reference to the diversity of roles models play in scientific practice. We aim to expand and bring clarity to the myriad uses of models in science by presenting a framework from philosopher of biology Jay Odenbaugh that describes five pragmatic strategies of model use in the biological sciences. We then present illustrative examples of each of these roles from an empirical study of an undergraduate biological modeling curriculum, which highlight how students used models to help them frame their research question, explore ideas, and refine their conceptual understanding in an educational setting. Our aim is to begin to explicate the definition of modeling in science in a way that will allow educators and curriculum developers to make informed choices about how and for what purpose modeling enters science classrooms. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Elementary School Science; Textbooks; Role; Visual Aids; Attitudes; Physical Environment; Ecology; Comparative Analysis; Natural Sciences; Syntax; Rhetoric; Scientific Principles; World Views

Abstract:
This paper explores the function of the visual syntax of images in Greek primary school textbooks. By using a model for the formal analysis of the visual material, which will allow us to disclose the mechanisms through which meanings are manifested, our aim is to investigate the discursive transition relating to the view of nature and the human-nature relationship between two series of natural science textbooks. The model is applied to a total of 635 pictures; 434 coming from the old series of textbooks introduced in the early 1980s and 201 from the new introduced in 2006. The results show that a) no differences in the codes of the visual representation of nature or human-nature relationship were recorded between the two series of textbooks, b) the environmental rhetoric mediated by the pictorial material of the textbooks appears closer to its lay counterpart than to scientific rhetoric, c) both series of textbooks favor a viewer-picture relation which diverges from the epistemological (subject/object) ideas of the romantic worldview and comes closer to the baroque one that depicts the world as non-linear and disconnected, while gives more freedom to the viewer to proceed to subjective interpretations. Thus, we assert that the baroque approach adopted by both series of textbooks does not aim at the initiation of students to the highly conventionalized ways of expression, and ultimately to the formalized and scientific rhetoric. On the contrary, within a constructionist context, the textbooks' visual mode allows students to equally share power with a quite familiar world. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Evolution; Biology; Educational Theories; Scientific Principles; Scientific Concepts; Debate; Rhetorical Criticism; Science Education

Abstract:
The "cis"-regulatory hypothesis is one of the most important claims of evolutionary developmental biology. In this paper I examine the theoretical argument for "cis"-regulatory evolution and its role within evolutionary theorizing. I show that, although the argument has some weaknesses, it acts as a useful example for the importance of current scientific debates for science education.

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Descriptors:
Ecology; Ethics; Evolution; Biology; Epistemology; Educational Philosophy; Biological Sciences; Scientific Concepts; Performance Factors; Scientific Methodology; Scientific Principles; Scientific Research; Scientific Literacy; Inquiry; Essays; Literature Reviews; Meta Analysis; Science Education History; Intellectual History

Abstract:
The philosophy of biology today is one of the most exciting areas of philosophy. It looks critically across the life sciences, teasing out conceptual issues and difficulties bringing to bear the tools of philosophical analysis to achieve clarification and understanding. This essay surveys work in all of the major directions of research: evolutionary theory and the units/levels of selection; evolutionary developmental biology; reductionism; ecology; the species problem; teleology; evolutionary epistemology; evolutionary ethics; and progress. There is a comprehensive bibliography. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Music; Mechanics (Physics); Energy Conservation; Optics; Introductory Courses; Science Instruction; Geometry; Scientific Concepts; Acoustics; Scientific Principles; Teaching Methods; Interdisciplinary Approach; Physics

Abstract:
Much of the mathematical reasoning employed in the typical introductory physics course can be traced to Pythagorean roots planted over two thousand years ago. Besides obvious examples involving the Pythagorean theorem, I draw attention to standard physics problems and derivations which often unknowingly rely upon the Pythagoreans' work on proportion, music, geometry, harmony, the golden ratio, and cosmology. Examples are drawn from mechanics, electricity, sound, optics, energy conservation and relativity. An awareness of the primary sources of the mathematical techniques employed in the physics classroom could especially benefit students and educators at schools which encourage integration of their various courses in history, science, philosophy, and the arts. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Science Instruction; Case Method (Teaching Technique); Classrooms; Epistemology; Secondary School Teachers; Scientific Principles; Science Curriculum; Science Education; Validity; Tutors; Intervention; Questionnaires; Models; Science History; Philosophy; High School Students; Junior High School Students

Abstract:
For quite some time, many EU and Italian Ministry of Education official documents have warmly suggested the introduction of the history and the philosophy of science in the teaching of science disciplines at school. Accordingly, there is a shared agreement between pedagogists and science historians about the efficacy of this approach towards an understanding of the current curriculum content and the Nature of Science. What is missing, at least in Italy, is a concrete fieldwork in the classroom to show the validity of these declarations. This essay is a report of the experience of introducing history and philosophy of science into junior and senior high school classrooms in Apulia (Italy). The aims of this project are: (a) to build a model of research involving high school teachers and university lecturers in the design and construction of teaching units that use the story of science and epistemology for teaching science and (b) produce evidence that this approach is effective in getting more interest from students in science. We relied on many schools for carrying out the historical-scientific teaching modules. The modules were carried out through the case study approach. In the first phase, the participating teachers were trained by University tutors on the modalities of this particular teaching approach. In the second phase, the teachers carried out the modules in their classes and finally these modules were presented in a conclusive conference. Moreover, we evaluated the efficacy of the intervention through specifically created agreement questionnaires. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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