L. B. Flick and N. G. Lederman (eds): Scientific Inquiry and Nature of Science: Implications for Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education

Abstract

The inclusion of science inquiry in the K-12 school curriculum has been one of the goals of science education for a long time. In the early 1900s, Armstrong, Dewey, and others advocated the teaching of science inquiry. In the late 1980s and 1990s, science inquiry was emphasized again as a key component in curriculum reform efforts, such as the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council 1996) and Science for All Americans (AAAS 1990). In fact, being able to understand and perform scientific inquiry was cited as one of the four critical targets of science instruction. Contemporary literature and research in science education is dominated by the concepts of inquiry and nature of science (NOS), which are two foci of current reform efforts in science education. Research indicates a ‘‘pattern for general support for inquiry-based teaching’’ (Bransford et al. 2000; NRC 1996, p. 126; NRC 2000). However, since inquiry and NOS are complex and abstract ideas, there has been a great confusion not only about what is meant by teaching science as inquiry and the specific attributes of inquiry and NOS but also about how to implement scientific inquiry to K-12 and college science classrooms. This book examines and synthesizes research on a wide variety of contemporary theoretical and practical trends and issues about including inquiry and NOS in science teaching, science teacher education, and research in science education. It presents the first attempt to juxtapose inquiry and nature of science as student outcomes. Although closely related these two terms have different connotations within the science education community. The book presents various points of view from several prominent researchers in science education and helps to clarify these two constructs. An introductory chapter by the editors highlights the major issues involved, the organization and the raison d’etre of the book. The first chapter functions as a theoretical framework for the remaining chapters. In this chapter, Rodger Bybee uses the National Science Education Standards to challenge some of the modern views of inquiry. Highlighting inquiry as both a content goal and a teaching method he defines and clarifies