Reconceptualizing the nature of science for science teaching: Theoretical basis and practical implications
Seminar with Zoubeida R. Dagher, Ph.D., Professor
Science Education, School of Education, University of Delaware, USA
Faculty Fellow, Center for Science, Ethics & Public Policy
President-Elect, International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching (IHPST) Group, http://ihpst.net/
Abstract
Two fundamental questions about science are relevant for science educators: (a) what is the nature of science? and, (b) what aspects of nature science should be taught and learned? They are fundamental because they address how science gets to be framed as an academic subject and determine what aspects of it are worthy of inclusion in school science. Based on a recently coauthored book (Erduran and Dagher, 2014, see below), this presentation describes a holistic conception of the nature of science for science education and offers practical tools for enacting it in science curriculum and instruction.
About the new book
"Reconceptualizing the Nature of Science for Science Education - Scientific Knowledge, Practices and Other Family Categories"
Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education 43
By Sibel Erduran & Zoubeida R. Dagher
Prompted by the ongoing debate among science educators over ‘nature of science’, and its importance in school and university curricula, this book is a clarion call for a broad re-conceptualizing of nature of science in science education. The authors draw on the ‘family resemblance’ approach popularized by Wittgenstein, defining science as a cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional system whose heterogeneous characteristics and influences should be more thoroughly reflected in science education. They seek wherever possible to clarify their developing thesis with visual tools that illustrate how their ideas can be practically applied in science education. The volume’s holistic representation of science, which includes the aims and values, knowledge, practices, techniques, and methodological rules (as well as science’s social and institutional contexts), mirrors its core aim—to synthesize perspectives from the fields of philosophy of science and science education. The authors believe that this more integrated conception of nature of science in science education is both innovative and beneficial. They discuss in detail the implications for curriculum content, pedagogy, and learning outcomes, deploy numerous real-life examples, and detail the links between their ideas and curriculum policy more generally.
"The book is an important contribution to science education research in terms of advancing our thinking about how to integrate the teaching of NOS in science lessons.”
Professor Doris Jorde, University of Oslo & Norwegian Centre for Science Education, Norway
“By drawing from multidisciplinary studies of science and education, Drs. Erduran and Dagher provide a refreshingly new and comprehensive view of the nature of science and highlight insightful and timely educational implications.”
Professor Gregory J. Kelly, Pennsylvania State University, USA
About Zoubeida R. Dagher
Dr. Zoubeida R. Dagher is professor of science education at the School of Education and a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Science, Ethics, and Public Policy, University of Delaware. Her research interests include the nature of scientific methods and practices and representations of scientific epistemology in science curriculum and instruction. She is currently serving as President-Elect of the International History and Philosophy of Science Teaching [IHPST] Group. Her professional experiences include serving as elected member to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching [NARST] and as member of the Advisory Council of the IHPST Group. Dr. Dagher has also served as member of several editorial review boards in science education journals. She has been a visiting scholar at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia, the Lebanese University in Lebanon, and the American University of Beirut. She has also served as deputy dean for one year at the College of Education at Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.