Risk has now become a feature of science curricula in many industrialized countries. While risk is conceptualized within a number of different theoretical frameworks, the predominant model used in examination specifications is a utility model in which risk calculations are deemed to be objective through technical expert assessment and where the…

As part of becoming scientifically literate, students should come to appreciate epistemic aspects of science. Little research has been conducted on elementary students' epistemological beliefs specific to science education. This study offers insights into third-grade students' epistemological beliefs while paying attention to the intersection of…

Models and modeling are a major issue in science studies and in science education. In addressing such an issue, we first propose an epistemological discussion based on the works of Cartwright (1983, 1999), Fleck (1935/1979), and Hacking (1983). This leads us to emphasize the transitions between the abstract and the concrete in the modeling…

Within the framework of social cognitive theory, we examined the motivation of students (14-16 years old) to learn science in their introductory science courses. The students responded to a questionnaire about their intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and self-determination. The students also wrote essays about their motivation, and individual…

We often knowingly teach false science. Such a practice conflicts with a prima facie pedagogical value placed on teaching only what is true. I argue that only a partial dissolution of the conflict is possible: the proper aim of instruction in science is not to provide an armory of facts about what things the world contains, how they interact, and…

Educators repeatedly underscore the intimate relationship between science and technology. This is problematic because technology, far from being "applied science," presupposes a unique epistemology (techno-epistemology). A focus on the role of science in technology overshadows this unique way of knowing and hence limits technology…

During the past few decades, researchers from a cognitive science tradition and a sociocultural perspective on learning have discussed how to understand students' conceptions of the earth. In this article, some of the questions discussed in this debate are elaborated in relation to meaning making in educational settings. The aim is to illustrate…

This is a critical time for the science education community as we embark on the creation and implementation of new national science standards. The purpose of this essay is to offer insight into how the language of curriculum standards, including that found in state science standards in the United States over the past 15 years, has posed barriers…

In this paper, we describe two central epistemological norms related to the importance of making investigations and to scientific language and its logic. These norms have been identified in empirical material consisting of 200 video-recorded lessons in three different science classes. With regard to the learning of science and socialization, we…

When teachers or students assess the quality of ideas in science classes, they do so mostly based on "textbook correctness"; ideas are good to the extent they align with or lead to the content as presented in the textbook or curriculum. Such appeals to authority are at odds with the values and practices within the disciplines of science. There has…

Research about the relationship between teachers' scientific epistemological views (SEVs) and science instruction is often an important issue for many science educators. This study, by collecting research data from four Taiwanese science teachers, their students, and classroom observations, was carried out to examine the coherences between…

The debate on the status of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in science curricula is currently centered on a juxtaposition of two incompatible frameworks: multiculturalism and universalism. The aim of this paper is to establish a framework that overcomes this opposition between multiculturalism and universalism in science education, so that…

The process of construction of meanings for the concepts of concentration and neutralization is explored in terms of "contextualizing practices" (Lemke, 1990, "Talking Science. Language, Learning and Values," Norwood, NJ: Ablex) creation of meanings through connections established among actions and their context. This notion is expanded to include…

Responds to Jim Garrison regarding his views on school science epistemology. Argues that the goal of science education is to "convey some understanding of scientific practice as it occurs in the everyday world in which we live." (Author/YDS)

Addresses the question in science education; "What is the nature of science?" and proposes that vital qualities of science are best illuminated by just the opposite process: by appreciating the uncommon, rather than common, features. Argues that by attending to individual variation, we are more likely to understand what makes science a creative…