In most epistemologies, practical actions and speech are the consequences of thought. In this study, I provide three case studies of highly educated scientists producing aspects of graphs only to erase these as soon as they have been drawn. The case studies are consistent with an alternative approach, already formulated by L. S. Vygotsky and M.…

In this study, I provide a microgenetic-historical account of learning in an informal setting: the conceptual change that occurred while a university-based scientific research laboratory investigated the absorption of light in rod-based photoreceptors of coho salmon, which the "dogma" had suggested to be related to the migration between…

Science educators often suggest that students should learn science in ways and settings that bear family resemblance with "the real thing." Internship in science laboratories constitutes one such way in which students may learn science and learn about science. However, very little is known about "how" participants experience a…

This study investigated the representations of a select group of scientists (n = 10) in a sample of Canadian high school and college textbooks. Drawing on semiotic and cultural-historical activity theoretical frameworks, we conducted two analyses. A coarse-grained, quantitative analysis of the prevalence and structure of these representations…

In the past several years a number of authors have suggested that science education could benefit from insights gained by research in the social studies of science that documents and theorises science as it is actually done. There currently exist two gaps in the literature. First, most research in science studies are concerned with the practices…

Provides a framework for and a guide to the multiple links between the 10 articles in this issue that address science and technology and science education. Argues for creating a more accurate image of science. Contains 30 references. (DDR)

The interpretation of data and construction and interpretation of graphs are central practices in science which, according to recent reform documents, science and mathematics teachers are expected to foster in their classrooms. However, are (preservice) science teachers prepared to teach inquiry with the purpose of transforming and analyzing data,…

Analyzes and explores questions about the dialogic nature of beliefs and students' belief talk about the nature of science and scientific knowledge. Argues that students' discourse is better understood as a textual bricolage sensitive to conversational context. Contains 26 references. (DDR)

Describes a study of the similarities and differences in graph-related interpretations between scientists and college students engaged in collective graph interpretation. Concludes that while many students learned to provide correct answers to scientific graphing questions, they did not come to make linguistic distinctions or increase their…

Reports on a study designed to find out what scientists and science students actually do when they are reading familiar and unfamiliar graphs. Describes changes in ontologies of scientists and science students as they engage in the reading tasks assigned to them. Theorizes a transition of graphs from things to signs that come to stand for natural…

Suggests that when considering the contribution of scientific activity to the greater good, science must be seen as forming a unique hybrid practice, together with other mediating practices, that constitute scientifically-literate good citizenship. Presents examples of activities that embed science in good citizenship. (Contains 46 references.)…

Microanalyzes graph use in lectures drawn from artifacts compiled from videotaping all lectures and seminars in a 13-week ecology course. Focuses on both the text and the gesture-related references made in the reading of a graph in an ecology lecture. Contains 36 references. (DDR)