Discovering Inquiry and
Nature of Science:
Definitions, Distinctions,
Teaching, and Assessment
Judith S. Lederman
[email protected]
Norman G. Lederman
[email protected]
Mathematics and Science Education
Illinois Institute of Technology
What is Science?
What is Science?
“TO SCIENCE, PILOT OF INDUSTRY,
CONQUEROR OF DISEASE, MULTIPLIER
OF THE HARVEST, EXPLORER OF THE
UNIVERSE, REVEALER OF NATURE’S
LAWS, ETERNAL GUIDE TO TRUTH.”
- Inscription on the ceiling
of the Great Hall in the National
Academy of Science
What is Science?
“SCIENCE IS AN INTERNALLY
CONSISTENT SET OF LIES DESIGNED TO
EXPLAIN AWAY THE UNIVERSE.”
Arthur Boucot
(personal conversation)
What is Science?
„
Body of Knowledge
(Concepts, theories,laws, etc)
„
Process/Method
(Inquiry-derivation of knowledge)
„
Nature of Science
(Characteristics of knowledge)
Scientific Inquiry:
How Is It Defined/Used in Curriculum Reform?
1.
Teaching approach
2.
Instructional Outcome
a)
b)
Performance
(What students should be able to do)
Knowledge
(What students should know)
Doing Scientific Inquiry:
Systematic approaches used by scientists to
answer their questions of interest.
Scientific inquiry involves:
a) Traditional science process skills
- Observing
- Inferring
- Classifying
- Predicting
- Measuring
- Questioning
- Interpreting
- Analyzing
b) Combination of these processes with scientific
knowledge, scientific reasoning, and critical
thinking to develop scientific knowledge
Inquiry and NSES
(p.19)
Table 2-2. Content Standard for Science as Inquiry: Fundamental
Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry
Grades K-4
„ Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.
„ Plan and conduct a simple investigation.
„ Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.
„ Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
„ Communicate investigations and explanations.
Grades 5–8
„ Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
„ Design and conduct a scientific investigation.
„ Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
„ Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
„ Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and
explanations.
„ Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions.
„ Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.
„ Use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry
Inquiry and NSES
(Cont’d)
Table 2-2. Content Standard for Science as Inquiry: Fundamental
Abilities Necessary to Do Scientific Inquiry
„
„
„
„
„
„
Grades 9–12
Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.
Design and conduct scientific investigations.
Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and
communications.
Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and
evidence.
Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models.
Communicate and defend a scientific argument.
Important Knowledge About
Scientific Inquiry
1.
Scientific investigations all begin with a question, but
do not necessarily test a hypothesis
2.
There is no single set and sequence of steps followed
in all scientific investigations (i.e., there is no single
scientific method)
3.
Inquiry procedures are guided by the question asked
4.
All scientists performing the same procedures may
not get the same results
Important Knowledge About
Scientific Inquiry (Cont’d)
5.
Inquiry procedures can influence the results
6.
Research conclusions must be consistent with the data
collected
7.
Scientific data are not the same as scientific evidence
8.
Explanations are developed from a combination of
collected data and what is already known
Inquiry and NSES
(p.20)
Table 2-3. Content Standard for Science as Inquiry: Fundamental
Understandings About Scientific Inquiry
Grades K-4
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing
the answer with what scientists already know about the world.
Scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are
trying to answer.
Simple instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers, provide more
information than scientists obtain using only their senses.
Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they
already know about the world (scientific knowledge).
Scientists make the results of their investigations public; they describe the
investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations.
Scientists review and ask questions about the results of other scientists' work.
Grades 5–8
Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations.
Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations.
Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry.
Technology used to gather data enhances accuracy and allows scientists to analyze
and quantify results of investigations.
Inquiry and NSES
(Cont’d)
Table 2-3. Content Standard for Science as Inquiry: Fundamental
Understandings About Scientific Inquiry
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Grades 5–8
Scientific explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent
arguments, and use scientific principles, models, and theories.
Science advances through legitimate skepticism.
Scientific investigations sometimes result in new ideas and phenomena for
study, generate new methods or procedures for an investigation, or develop
new technologies to improve the collection of data.
Grades 9–12
Scientists usually inquire how physical, living, or designed systems function.
Scientists conduct investigations for a wide variety of reasons.
Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of
data.
Mathematics is essential in scientific inquiry.
Scientific explanations must adhere to criteria such as: a proposed explanation
must be logically consistent; it must abide by the rules of evidence; it must be
open to questions a possible modification; and it must be based on historical
and current scientific knowledge.
Results of scientific inquiry - new knowledge and methods- merge from
different types of investigations and public communication among scientists.
Forms of Scientific Inquiry
„
„
„
Descriptive: purpose is to describe; may derive
important variables and factors that give rise to
other types of investigations
Correlational: purpose is to describe relationships
among variables
Experimental: purpose is to derive causal
relationships among variables
Is there a single “Scientific Method”?
Finished
Twirly
Life Saver Investigation
Science Terms
„
„
„
„
„
Variable – conditions that change in an
experiment
Outliers - data that lies outside the
normal range
Control – variables that are not allowed
to change during an experiment
Hypothesis – possible answer to the
question being investigated
Control Group – a parallel experiment in
which the variable being tested is not
changed
Math Terms
„
„
„
„
„
Range – the difference between the
highest and lowest numbers
Outliers - data that lies outside the
normal range
Mean – average of all data
Median – middle number in a data set
Mode – the number or piece of data that
occurs most often
How Historians, Philosophers, and
Science Educators Have Defined
“Nature of Science”
The values and assumptions inherent
to science, scientific knowledge,
and/or the development of scientific
knowledge
What Are Some of the Values and
Assumptions Inherent to Science
and Scientific Knowledge?
1.
Independence of Thought
2.
Independence of Observation
3.
Prizing of Originality
4.
Dissent (Freedom)
5.
Free Inquiry
6.
Free Speech
7.
Tolerance
8.
Mutual Respect
What Are Some of the Values and
Assumptions Inherent to Science
and Scientific Knowledge?(Cont’d)
9.
Creativity
10.
Tentativeness
11.
Amoral
12.
Unified View of Reality
13.
Parsimonious
14.
Testable
15.
Empirically Based
16.
Culturally and Socially Embedded
Selection of Aspects of
Nature of Science
„
Developmentally Appropriate
„
Empirically Supported by Research
„
Justifiably Important for ALL Science
Students
„
No Contentious Claims
What Aspects of Nature of Science Can
We Reasonably Expect to Teach?
1.
Tentativeness
2.
Creativity
3.
Observation vs. Inference
4.
Subjectivity
5.
Functions and Relationships of Theory
and Law
6.
Socially and Culturally Embedded
7.
Empirically Based
What Aspects of Nature of Science Can
We Reasonably Expect to Teach?
1.
Tentativeness
2.
Creativity
3.
Observation vs. Inference
4.
Subjectivity
5.
Functions and Relationships of Theory
and Law
6.
Socially and Culturally Embedded
7.
Empirically Based
Functions and Relationships of Theory and Law
Scientific Law
States, identifies, or describes the relationships
among observable phenomena
Scientific Theory
Inferred explanations for observable
phenomena
Research on Nature of Science
and Scientific Inquiry
A few generalizations can be justified from the
volumes of research related to teachers’ and
students’ understandings of nature of science and
scientific inquiry:
1.
K-12 students do not typically possess “adequate”
conceptions of nature of science and scientific
inquiry
2.
K-12 teachers do not typically possess “adequate”
conceptions of nature of science and scientific
inquiry
Research on Nature of Science
and Scientific Inquiry (cont’d)
4.
Conceptions of nature of science and scientific
inquiry are best learned through explicit
instructional attention as opposed to implicitly
through experiences with “doing science.”
5.
Teachers’ conceptions of nature of science and
scientific inquiry are not automatically and
necessarily translated into classroom practice
6.
Teachers’ do not regard understandings of nature
of science and scientific inquiry as an instructional
outcomes with status equal to that of “traditional”
subject matter outcomes.
Communicating Functional Understandings
of NOS and Scientific Inquiry
1.
Implicit Approach
a)
By ”doing science” students will come to understand the
NOS and Scientific inquiry
b)
Popular in the 60s and 70s reforms
c)
Assumptions of the implicit approach:
•
Understanding of the NOS and Scientific inquiry is an affective
outcome, similar to “attitude”
•
Learning about the NOS and Scientific inquiry is a by-product of
doing science
d)
Research does not support the effectiveness of this
approach for enhancing conceptions of NOS and Scientific
inquiry
e)
Learning outcomes are primarily skills-based
Using History of Science to Teach About
Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry
2.
Historical Approach
What Does the Research Say?
„
Historical reflection often assumes that present
beliefs have resulted from a linear and logical
progression from past beliefs
„
Students often develop the impression that past
beliefs and scientists were simply uniformed and
ignorant
Using History of Science to Teach About
Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry
(Cont’d)
What Does the Research Say?
„
It is virtually impossible (if constructivism is
correct) for students to suspend prior beliefs (e.g.,
during a role play activity)
„
Has demonstrated only moderate success when
the focus has been on tentative, creative,
subjective aspects of NOS
„
Has not been effective with respect to
understandings of scientific inquiry
Communicating Functional Understandings
of NOS and Scientific Inquiry
3.
Explicit Approach
a)
Treats the understanding of NOS and Scientific inquiry as
a cognitive outcome, not a by-product
b)
The goal of improving students’ views is planned for,
taught, and assessed
c)
Instruction is geared toward various aspects of the NOS
or scientific inquiry and utilizes elements from the history
and philosophy of science
d)
Encourage reflection that connects aspects of the NOS
and scientific inquiry to the classroom activities and the
activities of scientists
e)
Research consistently supports the effectiveness of this
approach
STUDENTS
WON’T
LEARN
WHAT IS
NOT
TAUGHT
Mystery Bones
• Paleobiologist’s
construction of
bones
• How did they
come up with
this?
Do Scientists Use Their Imaginations?
One
Paleobiologist’s
imagination
Another
Paleobiologist’s
imagination
“With their shorterthan-average wings,
these pterosaurs are
acrobats, not high
soarers like some of
their cousins. S.
crassirostris never stray
far from their home
island, and generally
restrict their territories
to shallower waters
where the small fish
are.”
Pendulum Activity
Hangar Activity
IF YOU WANT
STUDENTS
TO LEARN
SOMETHING
YOU NEED TO
TEACH IT
AND
ASSESS IT
VNOS-D(The Views of Nature of
Science version D)
1. What is science?
2. How is science different from the other subjects
you are studying?
3. Scientists produce scientific knowledge. Some of
this knowledge is found in your science books. Do
you think this knowledge may change in the future?
Explain your answer and give an example.
VNOS-D(The Views of Nature of
Science version D)
(Cont’d)
4. (a) How do scientists know that dinosaurs really
existed?
(b) How certain are scientists about the way
dinosaurs looked?
(c) Scientists agree that about 65 millions of years
ago the dinosaurs became extinct (all died away).
However, scientists disagree about what had caused
this to happen. Why do you think they disagree even
though they all have the same information?
VNOS-D(The Views of Nature of
Science version D)
(Cont’d)
5. In order to predict the weather, weather persons
collect different types of information. Often they
produce computer models of different weather
patterns.
(a)Do you think weather persons are certain (sure)
about these weather patterns?
(b) Why or why not?
6. What do you think a scientific model is?
VNOS-D(The Views of Nature of
Science version D)
(Cont’d)
7. Scientists try to find answers to their questions by
doing investigations / experiments. Do you think
that scientists use their imaginations and
creativity when they do these investigations /
experiments? YES
NO
a. If NO, explain why?
b. If YES, in what part(s) of their investigations
(planning, experimenting, making observations,
analysis of data, interpretation, reporting results,
etc.) do you think they use their imagination and
creativity? Give examples if you can.
VOSI(The Views of Scientific
Inquiry)
1. What types of activities do scientists (e.g.,
biologists, chemists, physicists, earth scientists)
do to learn about the natural world? Discuss how
scientists (biologists, chemists, earth scientists) do
their work.
2. How do scientists decide what and how to
investigate? Describe all the factors you think
influence the work of scientists. Be as specific as
possible.
VOSI(The Views of Scientific
Inquiry)
(Cont’d)
3. A person interested in birds looked at hundreds of
different types of birds who eat different types of
food. He noticed that birds who eat similar types
of food, tended to have similar shaped beaks. For
example, birds who eat hard shelled nuts have
short, strong beaks, and birds who eat insects
from tide pools have long, slim beaks. He
concluded that there is a relationship between
beak shape and the type of food birds eat.
VOSI(The Views of Scientific
Inquiry)
(Cont’d)
3-(a) Do you consider this person’s investigation to
be scientific? Please explain why or why not.
3-(b) Do you consider this person's investigation to
be an experiment? Please explain why or why not.
3-(c) Do you think that scientific investigations can
follow more than one method? Describe two
investigations that follow different methods.
Explain how the methods differ and how they can
still be considered scientific.
VOSI(The Views of Scientific
Inquiry)
(Cont’d)
4. (a) If several scientists, working independently,
ask the same question and follow the same
procedures to collect data, will they necessarily
come to the same conclusions? Explain why or
why not.
(b) If several scientists, working independently,
ask the same question and follow different
procedures to collect data, will they necessarily
come to the same conclusions? Explain why or
why not.
VOSI(The Views of Scientific
Inquiry)
(Cont’d)
4. (c) Does your response to (a) change if the
scientists are working together? Explain.
(d) Does your response to (b) change if the
scientists are working together? Explain.
VOSI(The Views of Scientific
Inquiry)
(Cont’d)
5. (a) What does the word “data” mean in science?
(b) What is involved in data analysis?
(c) Is “data” the same or different from “evidence?”
Explain.