Nature of Science and Nature of Technology

Abstract

Nature of Science (NOS) and Nature of Technology (NOT) are critical components of science and technology. NOS has a longer and more widely recognised history than NOT, but they work together to support students’ learning of how to make informed decisions. This learning occurs when their teachers plan, prepare, and deliver learning opportunities that are based on meaningful learning. Issues and concerns in education arise in NOS and NOT, as there is no checklist of what teachers need to do in order for students to learn. What is agreed in most literature is that students will not learn either NOS or NOT by just doing science or technology. What teachers do matters, and how they do it matters even more as, whether teachers plan it or not, they will be teaching NOS and NOT. Therefore, NOS and NOT are best understood by students if they are explicitly addressed within the context of students’ learning of both the concepts and the practices of science and technology. As both NOS and NOT are about what science and technology are, how they work, and how each impact on people and society, both need to be included across all years of learning to allow students the multiple opportunities to develop their understanding. As a result, NOS and NOT should be the unifying component of students’ learning, which leads them progressively from simple to increasingly complex knowledge of the world around them, and to how they are able to interact and impact on this world through informed decision-making.KeywordsNature of scienceNOSNature of technologyNOTEducation