Sibel Erduran is Professor of Science Education at University of Oxford, United Kingdom. She also holds Professor II position at University of Oslo, Norway.
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In this paper, we use the “Family Resemblance Approach” (FRA) as a framework to characterize how ... more In this paper, we use the “Family Resemblance Approach” (FRA) as a framework to characterize how scientists view the nature of science (NOS). FRA presents NOS as a “system” that includes clusters or categories of ideas about the cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional aspects of science. For example, the cognitive-epistemic aspects include aims and values such as objectivity and scientific methods such as hypothesis testing. Social-institutional aspects refer to a range of components including social values such as honesty about evidence and institutional contexts of science such as research institutions. Characterized as such, NOS is thus a system of interacting components. The initial account of FRA was proposed by philosophers of science and subsequently adapted and extended for science education including through empirical studies. Yet, there is little understanding of the extent to which FRA coheres with scientists’ own depictions about NOS. Hence, an empirical study was c...
Understanding the nature of science (NOS) has emerged as a core curricular goal since at least th... more Understanding the nature of science (NOS) has emerged as a core curricular goal since at least the 1960s. While science education reforms around the world have shed light on various epistemic and social underpinnings of science, how science curriculum documents portray the nature of other related disciplines such as mathematics and engineering has drawn little attention. Such lack of attention is surprising, given the growing interest among educators in the integrated approach to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and the frequent emphasis on STEM in recent curriculum policy. The study reported in this paper aimed to understand how recent science education reform documents from the USA, Korea and Taiwan compare with regard to their representation of the nature of STEM disciplines. Using the framework of the family resemblance approach (FRA), we present a comparative analysis of three recent science education standards documents to examine their coverag...
This chapter utilises scholarship in philosophy of biology and philosophy of chemistry to produce... more This chapter utilises scholarship in philosophy of biology and philosophy of chemistry to produce meaningful implications for biology and chemistry education. The primary purpose for studying philosophical literature is to identify different perspectives on the nature of laws and explanations within these disciplines. The goal is not to resolve ongoing debates about the nature of laws and explanations but to consider their multiple forms and purposes in ways that promote deep and practical understanding of biological and chemical knowledge in educational contexts. Most studies on the nature of science in science education tend to focus on general features of scientific knowledge and underemphasise disciplinary nuances. The authors aim to contribute to science education research by focusing on the characterisations of laws and explanations in biology and chemistry in the philosophical literature and illustrating how the typical coverage of biology and chemistry textbooks does not problematise meta-perspectives on the nature of laws and explanations. The chapter concludes with suggestions for making science teaching, learning and curriculum more inclusive of the epistemological dimensions of biology and chemistry.10.1007/978-94-007-7654-8_37
DESCRIPTION Seminar on Scientific Practices. What are they and how can they be promoted in school... more DESCRIPTION Seminar on Scientific Practices. What are they and how can they be promoted in school science?
ABSTRACT The Irish national discourse on curriculum and assessment reform at the Junior Cycle lev... more ABSTRACT The Irish national discourse on curriculum and assessment reform at the Junior Cycle level has been fraught with controversy in the past two years. The introduction of the new curriculum and assessment framework in 2012 by the then Minister of Education, Ruairi Quinn has led to significant media coverage and teacher union response. In this paper, we argue that in the midst of the reaction toward the particular assessment elements of the framework, the focus has been lost on key revisions made in the draft science curriculum and assessment specification released in September 2014. A central aspect of the draft document released for consultation includes the introduction of a ‘Nature of Science’ (NOS) theme intended to be an overarching feature of all science teaching and learning. We examine the coverage of NOS in the draft document and analyze it relative to a model of NOS developed in our recent book. Our analysis illustrates that the draft science curriculum and assessment specification for Junior Cycle incorporates contemporary research and aligns the Irish curriculum with most features of NOS, although some aspects need further development including the articulation of a nuanced model of NOS. We highlight some future directions for curriculum and assessment development for a comprehensive, coherent and holistic coverage of NOS in Junior Cycle Science in Ireland.
ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been upsurge of interest in the applications of interdiscipli... more ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been upsurge of interest in the applications of interdisciplinary perspectives on science in science education. Within this framework, the implications of the so-called “economics of science” is virtually an uncharted territory. In this paper, we trace a set of arguments that provide a dialectic engagement with two conflicting agendas: (a) the broadening of science education to include the contextual positioning of science including economical dimensions of science, and (b) the guarding of the proliferation and reinforcement of those aspects of economics of science such as commodification of scientific knowledge that embraces inequity and restricted access to the products of the scientific enterprise. Our aim is broadly to engage, as science education researchers, in the debates in economics of science so as to investigate the reciprocal interactions that might exist with science education. In so doing, we draw out some recommendations whereby the goals of science education might provide as much input into the intellectual debates within philosophy of science on issues related to the commercialisation and commodification of scientific knowledge. We explore some implications of commodification of science in the context of modelling and argumentation in science education.
In Rwanda, the national curriculum is increasingly promoting the engagement of students in active... more In Rwanda, the national curriculum is increasingly promoting the engagement of students in active learning strategies and scientific inquiry. Related to this goal, the articulation of argumentation in teaching and learning is a significant topic. Argumentation involves the coordination of evidence and theory to support or refute an explanatory conclusion, model or prediction. Despite the research and policy rhetoric, the implementation of argumentation in everyday classrooms remains far from reality. In this project, we drew on evidence from research on professional development on argumentation to develop a pre-service teacher education program in Rwanda. This study was guided by the following key question: what is the impact of a series of workshops about teaching and learning of argumentation on Rwandan pre-service teachers’ perceptions of argumentation? The study was conducted with 25 pre-service teachers who participated in argumentation workshops that aimed to facilitate their ...
DESCRIPTION TUBITAK 2236-Marie Curie Cofund Brain Circulation Scheme desteği ile gerçekleştirilec... more DESCRIPTION TUBITAK 2236-Marie Curie Cofund Brain Circulation Scheme desteği ile gerçekleştirilecek olan bu çalıştayda, bilimsel pratiklerin, fen eğitiminin amaçları ve kazanımları doğrultusunda, bilimin doğası, bilimsel yöntemler ve bilimsel sorgulama ile ilişkilendirilmesi planlanmaktadır. Bu amaçla çalıştayda, bilimsel pratiklerin öğrenilmesi, öğretilmesi, ölçülmesi ve değerlendirilmesi ile ilgili olarak uygulamalar yapılacaktır.
Teachers’ understanding and teaching of argumentation is gaining more attention in science educat... more Teachers’ understanding and teaching of argumentation is gaining more attention in science education research. However, little is known about how science teachers engage in argumentation with teachers of different subject taking an interdisciplinary perspective that may inspire new pedagogical ideas or strategies. In particular, the positioning of argumentation at the juncture of science and religion is rare. This paper reports an empirical study involving science and religious education (RE) teachers who collaborated on teaching argumentation in three secondary schools in England. Their interdisciplinary collaboration was sustained by a series of professional development sessions over 18 months. Analysis of the interview data unfolds how the teachers’ collaboration impacted their understanding of argumentation and views of teaching their subject. Through working relationally in exploring and teaching argumentation, the science teachers reflected more notable changes than their RE c...
Science teaching for promoting inclusion (Step-IN) project is Teacher Development Agency (TDA) fu... more Science teaching for promoting inclusion (Step-IN) project is Teacher Development Agency (TDA) funded collaboration between a secondary school and a higher education institute. This project was based on a collaborative research philosophy to promote inclusive science teaching using evidence-based teaching strategies. The purpose of this continued professional development (CPD) project was to create the space for science teachers to identify potential inclusion issues in their classes and to develop strategies to tackle such issues. The CPD model included peer-collaboration and evidence-based reasoning about inclusive science teaching. This CPD experience was perceived to be an unequivocally positive one for the teachers. Inclusion of teacher’s voices, developing their own CPD agenda, was found to be one of the major findings of the project.
Treatment of philosophical perspectives in chemical education research has conventionally focusse... more Treatment of philosophical perspectives in chemical education research has conventionally focussed on themes such as relativism, objectivism and realism (e.g. Herron, 1996). As an influential contributor to the newly emerging field of philosophy of chemistry, Eric Scerri of UCLA has maintained the thesis that such philosophical concepts have been misinterpreted in the work of some chemical educators, and at times, they are at odds with scientific ideas:
This paper reports on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for the characterization of mode... more This paper reports on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for the characterization of models and modeling that can be useful in application to chemistry education. The underlying argument marks a departure from an emphasis on concepts that are the outcomes of chemical inquiry about how knowledge growth occurs through modeling in chemistry. An outline is presented that provides reasons why modeling is a significant goal for chemistry education, the role of models and modeling are closely examined, and some cognitive and epistemological accounts of models and modeling are exemplified. A review of the role of models in chemistry, some trends in the use of models in chemistry education, and some implications for how chemistry learning environments can be designed so that modeling can be promoted and sustained in the classroom are also included. Contains 142 references. (DDR) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by...
In this paper, we use the “Family Resemblance Approach” (FRA) as a framework to characterize how ... more In this paper, we use the “Family Resemblance Approach” (FRA) as a framework to characterize how scientists view the nature of science (NOS). FRA presents NOS as a “system” that includes clusters or categories of ideas about the cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional aspects of science. For example, the cognitive-epistemic aspects include aims and values such as objectivity and scientific methods such as hypothesis testing. Social-institutional aspects refer to a range of components including social values such as honesty about evidence and institutional contexts of science such as research institutions. Characterized as such, NOS is thus a system of interacting components. The initial account of FRA was proposed by philosophers of science and subsequently adapted and extended for science education including through empirical studies. Yet, there is little understanding of the extent to which FRA coheres with scientists’ own depictions about NOS. Hence, an empirical study was c...
Understanding the nature of science (NOS) has emerged as a core curricular goal since at least th... more Understanding the nature of science (NOS) has emerged as a core curricular goal since at least the 1960s. While science education reforms around the world have shed light on various epistemic and social underpinnings of science, how science curriculum documents portray the nature of other related disciplines such as mathematics and engineering has drawn little attention. Such lack of attention is surprising, given the growing interest among educators in the integrated approach to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and the frequent emphasis on STEM in recent curriculum policy. The study reported in this paper aimed to understand how recent science education reform documents from the USA, Korea and Taiwan compare with regard to their representation of the nature of STEM disciplines. Using the framework of the family resemblance approach (FRA), we present a comparative analysis of three recent science education standards documents to examine their coverag...
This chapter utilises scholarship in philosophy of biology and philosophy of chemistry to produce... more This chapter utilises scholarship in philosophy of biology and philosophy of chemistry to produce meaningful implications for biology and chemistry education. The primary purpose for studying philosophical literature is to identify different perspectives on the nature of laws and explanations within these disciplines. The goal is not to resolve ongoing debates about the nature of laws and explanations but to consider their multiple forms and purposes in ways that promote deep and practical understanding of biological and chemical knowledge in educational contexts. Most studies on the nature of science in science education tend to focus on general features of scientific knowledge and underemphasise disciplinary nuances. The authors aim to contribute to science education research by focusing on the characterisations of laws and explanations in biology and chemistry in the philosophical literature and illustrating how the typical coverage of biology and chemistry textbooks does not problematise meta-perspectives on the nature of laws and explanations. The chapter concludes with suggestions for making science teaching, learning and curriculum more inclusive of the epistemological dimensions of biology and chemistry.10.1007/978-94-007-7654-8_37
DESCRIPTION Seminar on Scientific Practices. What are they and how can they be promoted in school... more DESCRIPTION Seminar on Scientific Practices. What are they and how can they be promoted in school science?
ABSTRACT The Irish national discourse on curriculum and assessment reform at the Junior Cycle lev... more ABSTRACT The Irish national discourse on curriculum and assessment reform at the Junior Cycle level has been fraught with controversy in the past two years. The introduction of the new curriculum and assessment framework in 2012 by the then Minister of Education, Ruairi Quinn has led to significant media coverage and teacher union response. In this paper, we argue that in the midst of the reaction toward the particular assessment elements of the framework, the focus has been lost on key revisions made in the draft science curriculum and assessment specification released in September 2014. A central aspect of the draft document released for consultation includes the introduction of a ‘Nature of Science’ (NOS) theme intended to be an overarching feature of all science teaching and learning. We examine the coverage of NOS in the draft document and analyze it relative to a model of NOS developed in our recent book. Our analysis illustrates that the draft science curriculum and assessment specification for Junior Cycle incorporates contemporary research and aligns the Irish curriculum with most features of NOS, although some aspects need further development including the articulation of a nuanced model of NOS. We highlight some future directions for curriculum and assessment development for a comprehensive, coherent and holistic coverage of NOS in Junior Cycle Science in Ireland.
ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been upsurge of interest in the applications of interdiscipli... more ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been upsurge of interest in the applications of interdisciplinary perspectives on science in science education. Within this framework, the implications of the so-called “economics of science” is virtually an uncharted territory. In this paper, we trace a set of arguments that provide a dialectic engagement with two conflicting agendas: (a) the broadening of science education to include the contextual positioning of science including economical dimensions of science, and (b) the guarding of the proliferation and reinforcement of those aspects of economics of science such as commodification of scientific knowledge that embraces inequity and restricted access to the products of the scientific enterprise. Our aim is broadly to engage, as science education researchers, in the debates in economics of science so as to investigate the reciprocal interactions that might exist with science education. In so doing, we draw out some recommendations whereby the goals of science education might provide as much input into the intellectual debates within philosophy of science on issues related to the commercialisation and commodification of scientific knowledge. We explore some implications of commodification of science in the context of modelling and argumentation in science education.
In Rwanda, the national curriculum is increasingly promoting the engagement of students in active... more In Rwanda, the national curriculum is increasingly promoting the engagement of students in active learning strategies and scientific inquiry. Related to this goal, the articulation of argumentation in teaching and learning is a significant topic. Argumentation involves the coordination of evidence and theory to support or refute an explanatory conclusion, model or prediction. Despite the research and policy rhetoric, the implementation of argumentation in everyday classrooms remains far from reality. In this project, we drew on evidence from research on professional development on argumentation to develop a pre-service teacher education program in Rwanda. This study was guided by the following key question: what is the impact of a series of workshops about teaching and learning of argumentation on Rwandan pre-service teachers’ perceptions of argumentation? The study was conducted with 25 pre-service teachers who participated in argumentation workshops that aimed to facilitate their ...
DESCRIPTION TUBITAK 2236-Marie Curie Cofund Brain Circulation Scheme desteği ile gerçekleştirilec... more DESCRIPTION TUBITAK 2236-Marie Curie Cofund Brain Circulation Scheme desteği ile gerçekleştirilecek olan bu çalıştayda, bilimsel pratiklerin, fen eğitiminin amaçları ve kazanımları doğrultusunda, bilimin doğası, bilimsel yöntemler ve bilimsel sorgulama ile ilişkilendirilmesi planlanmaktadır. Bu amaçla çalıştayda, bilimsel pratiklerin öğrenilmesi, öğretilmesi, ölçülmesi ve değerlendirilmesi ile ilgili olarak uygulamalar yapılacaktır.
Teachers’ understanding and teaching of argumentation is gaining more attention in science educat... more Teachers’ understanding and teaching of argumentation is gaining more attention in science education research. However, little is known about how science teachers engage in argumentation with teachers of different subject taking an interdisciplinary perspective that may inspire new pedagogical ideas or strategies. In particular, the positioning of argumentation at the juncture of science and religion is rare. This paper reports an empirical study involving science and religious education (RE) teachers who collaborated on teaching argumentation in three secondary schools in England. Their interdisciplinary collaboration was sustained by a series of professional development sessions over 18 months. Analysis of the interview data unfolds how the teachers’ collaboration impacted their understanding of argumentation and views of teaching their subject. Through working relationally in exploring and teaching argumentation, the science teachers reflected more notable changes than their RE c...
Science teaching for promoting inclusion (Step-IN) project is Teacher Development Agency (TDA) fu... more Science teaching for promoting inclusion (Step-IN) project is Teacher Development Agency (TDA) funded collaboration between a secondary school and a higher education institute. This project was based on a collaborative research philosophy to promote inclusive science teaching using evidence-based teaching strategies. The purpose of this continued professional development (CPD) project was to create the space for science teachers to identify potential inclusion issues in their classes and to develop strategies to tackle such issues. The CPD model included peer-collaboration and evidence-based reasoning about inclusive science teaching. This CPD experience was perceived to be an unequivocally positive one for the teachers. Inclusion of teacher’s voices, developing their own CPD agenda, was found to be one of the major findings of the project.
Treatment of philosophical perspectives in chemical education research has conventionally focusse... more Treatment of philosophical perspectives in chemical education research has conventionally focussed on themes such as relativism, objectivism and realism (e.g. Herron, 1996). As an influential contributor to the newly emerging field of philosophy of chemistry, Eric Scerri of UCLA has maintained the thesis that such philosophical concepts have been misinterpreted in the work of some chemical educators, and at times, they are at odds with scientific ideas:
This paper reports on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for the characterization of mode... more This paper reports on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for the characterization of models and modeling that can be useful in application to chemistry education. The underlying argument marks a departure from an emphasis on concepts that are the outcomes of chemical inquiry about how knowledge growth occurs through modeling in chemistry. An outline is presented that provides reasons why modeling is a significant goal for chemistry education, the role of models and modeling are closely examined, and some cognitive and epistemological accounts of models and modeling are exemplified. A review of the role of models in chemistry, some trends in the use of models in chemistry education, and some implications for how chemistry learning environments can be designed so that modeling can be promoted and sustained in the classroom are also included. Contains 142 references. (DDR) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by...
Many studies have highlighted the importance of discourse in scientific understanding. Argumentat... more Many studies have highlighted the importance of discourse in scientific understanding. Argumentation is a form of scientific discourse that plays a central role in the building of explanations, models and theories. Scientists use arguments to relate the evidence that they select from their investigations and to justify the claims that they make about their observations. The implication is that argumentation is a scientific habit of mind that needs to be appropriated by students and explicitly taught through suitable instruction.
Edited by Sibel Erduran, an internationally recognised expert in chemistry education, this book brings together leading researchers to draw attention to research, policy and practice around the inclusion of argumentation in chemistry education. Split into three sections: Research on Argumentation in Chemistry Education, Resources and Strategies on Argumentation in Chemistry Education, and Argumentation in Context, this book blends practical resources and strategies with research-based evidence. The book contains state of the art research and offers educators a balanced perspective on the theory and practice of argumentation in chemistry education.
In this booklet we present some example activities aimed for teachers and students in secondary c... more In this booklet we present some example activities aimed for teachers and students in secondary chemistry education. Our approach in the design of the activities was informed by the need to motivate students by linking chemistry knowledge to everyday contexts through the use of imaginative and creative stories. The story contexts immerse students in purposeful pursuits in wanting to investigate and understand the chemistry knowledge in question. An important feature that has helped the framing of the activities is argumentation, the coordination of theory and evidence through justifications and reasons*.
A key goal in contemporary science education is the ability to engage in evidence-based reasoning in relation to both scientific and socio-scientific issues. Often such issues emerge in complex situations that demand the skills to articulate the difference between, for example, evidence and claim, as well as the ability to evaluate the credibility of evidence using a set of criteria such as accuracy and plausibility of the evidence. The activities integrate the promotion of such skills and provides teachers some example guidelines for structuring the lessons in ways that would support evidence-based reasoning to take place.
We are grateful to our respective universities, University of Bristol and Abant Izzet Baysal University for their support of our work as well as the Training and Development Agency for Schools and Bristol’s Institute for Advanced Studies, and TC Yuksek Ogretim Kurulu, for financial support that made the production of these resources possible.
Bu kitapçıkta öğretmenler ve öğrenciler tarafından ortaöğretimde kullanabilecek örnek aktiviteler... more Bu kitapçıkta öğretmenler ve öğrenciler tarafından ortaöğretimde kullanabilecek örnek aktiviteleri sunuyoruz. Aktiviteleri tasarlarken yaklaşımımız, hayali hikayeler kullanarak gerçek hayat ve kimya bilgisini birleştirmek ve bu sayede öğrenci motivasyonunu arttırmaktı. Hikayeler, öğrencilerin sorulardaki kimya bilgilerini araştırmak ve anlamak için istek duymalarını sağladı. Aktivitelerimizin temeli oluşturan en önemli özellik ise nedenler ve gerekçeler ile kanıt ve teori arasındaki bağlantının kurulması anlamına gelen argümantasyon kavramının kullanımıdır.* Hem bilimsel hem de sosyo-bilimsel konularda kanıta dayalı muhakeme yapılmasını sağlamak, çağdaş fen eğitiminin temel amaçlarındandır. Genellikle bu gibi durumlar, kanıtın güvenilirliği, doğruluğu, akla yatkınlığı gibi kriterlerin tartışıldığı ortamların yanı sıra, kanıt ve iddia arasındaki farkı belirtebilmek gibi beceri gerektiren hallerde ortaya çıkar. Buradaki aktiviteler hem bu gibi becerilerin gelişmesine katkı sağlamakta hem de öğretmenlere kanıta dayalı muhakeme içeren dersler yapmabilmeleri için yol gösterici örnekler vermektedir. Bu kitapçığı yaparken bize destek olan üniversitelerimiz Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi ve Bristol Üniversitesi’ne;katkılarıyla bu kitapçığın basılmasını sağlayan Türkiye Kimya Derneği’ne teşekkür ederiz.
* Erduran, S., & Jimenez-Aleixandre, M.P. (Eds.) (2008). Argumentation in Science Education: Perspectives from Classroom-based Research. Dordrecht: Springer.
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Edited by Sibel Erduran, an internationally recognised expert in chemistry education, this book brings together leading researchers to draw attention to research, policy and practice around the inclusion of argumentation in chemistry education. Split into three sections: Research on Argumentation in Chemistry Education, Resources and Strategies on Argumentation in Chemistry Education, and Argumentation in Context, this book blends practical resources and strategies with research-based evidence. The book contains state of the art research and offers educators a balanced perspective on the theory and practice of argumentation in chemistry education.
A key goal in contemporary science education is the ability to engage in evidence-based reasoning in relation to both scientific and socio-scientific issues. Often such issues emerge in complex situations that demand the skills to articulate the difference between, for example, evidence and claim, as well as the ability to evaluate the credibility of evidence using a set of criteria such as accuracy and plausibility of the evidence. The activities integrate the promotion of such skills and provides teachers some example guidelines for structuring the lessons in ways that would support evidence-based reasoning to take place.
We are grateful to our respective universities, University of Bristol and Abant Izzet Baysal University for their support of our work as well as the Training and Development Agency for Schools and Bristol’s Institute for Advanced Studies, and TC Yuksek Ogretim Kurulu, for financial support that made the production of these resources possible.
* Erduran, S., & Jimenez-Aleixandre, M.P. (Eds.) (2008). Argumentation in Science Education: Perspectives from Classroom-based Research. Dordrecht: Springer.