This document discusses scientific literacy and the importance of teaching the nature of science (NOS) and history of science. It defines NOS as systematic gathering of information through observations and testing, which should be taught alongside scientific practices. The history of science covers developments from ancient times to present across natural, social, and formal branches. The document also describes inquiry-based science teaching, where students investigate problems, develop explanations, and evaluate understandings. NOS and inquiry-based learning are presented as critical to developing scientific literacy and helping students make informed decisions on societal issues.
2. Introduction
Over the years there have been numerous models of curriculum and
instruction designed to improve the quality of science teaching and
learning. In the end, all of these models are related to the construct of
scientific literacy. The particular power of the Six Domains for Teaching
and Assessing Science Learning model, used as the overarching
framework for this paper, is its explicit reflection of the skills and
abilities related to the construct of scientific literacy. Although the
reasons for concern about quality differ from nation to nation, the
primary rallying point for science education reform is the perceived
level of scientific literacy among a nation’s populace.
3. Overview
Nature of science (NOS) is a critical component of
scientific literacy that enhances students’ understandings of
science concepts and enables them to make informed
decisions about scientifically-based personal and societal
issues. The history of science covers the development
of science from ancient times to the present. It
encompasses all three major branches of
science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots
can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia around
3000 to 1200 BCE.
4. Nature of science (NOS)
NOS is derived not only from the eight science practices delineated in
the Framework for K–12 Science Education (2012), but also from
decades of research supporting the various forms of systematic
gathering of information through direct and indirect observations of
the natural world and the testing of this information by the various
research methods used in science, such as descriptive, correlational,
and experimental designs. All science educators and those involved
with science teaching and learning should have a shared accurate view
of nature of scientific knowledge, and recognize that NOS should be
taught explicitly alongside science and engineering practices,
disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts.
5. History of science
The history of science studies the emergence and development of
systematic knowledge. Linguistic and historiographic traditions diverge
sharply as to what kind of knowledge that is (e.g., the
German Wissenschaft versus the Anglophone ‘science’), with
significant consequences for the scope and methods of the field. The
history of science is an ancient pursuit, but a relatively young
discipline. Although major works dedicated to the history of one or
another science have been published since the eighteenth century,
specialist journals, learned societies, and university positions date
mostly from the twentieth century. Since the Enlightenment,
the historiography of science has been dominated by narratives of
progress and by the central position of the Scientific Revolution.
6. SCIENCE AS A METHOD OF INQUIRY
Inquiry-based science adopts an investigative approach to
teaching and learning where students are provided with
opportunities to investigate a problem, search for possible
solutions, make observations, ask questions, test out ideas,
and think creatively and use their intuition. In this sense,
inquiry-based science involves students doing science
where they have opportunities to explore possible
solutions, develop explanations for the phenomena under
investigation, elaborate on concepts and processes, and
evaluate or assess their understandings in the light of
available evidence. This approach to teaching relies on
teachers recognizing the importance of presenting
problems to students that will challenge their current
conceptual understandings so they are forced to reconcile
anomalous thinking and construct new understandings.
7. Conclusion
NOS has long been recognized as a critical component of
scientific literacy. It is necessary knowledge for students to make
informed decisions with respect to the ever-increasing
scientifically-based personal and societal issues.
The developments of recent decades have expanded the
scope of the history of science both chronologically (ever more
studies are devoted to modern and contemporary science) and
thematically (embracing the human as well as the natural
sciences); shifted the emphasis from scientific theories to
scientific practices.
