Representations of Nature of Science in School Science Textbooks

Abstract

The development of informed nature of science (NOS) views is considered an integral component of scientific literacy, and a central focus of the majority of national science education reform documents worldwide (e.g., American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1993; Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2015; National Research Council [NRC], 2012; Next Generation Science Standards [NGSS], NGSS Lead States, 2013). Reform documents in the United States and elsewhere have articulated a range of NOS concepts students need to know to become scientifically literate. More broadly, to be scientifically literate demands acquiring the ability to 1) apply and reason scientifically, 2) command the discourse of science, and 3) understand the historical and epistemological significance of the learned concepts. Numerous studies have explored the views held by teachers and students about NOS, and many of these studies have indicated that students and teachers hold deep-seated, uninformed views about NOS that are resistant to change. They have also indicated that NOS ideas need to be taught more deliberately and explicitly for positive change to occur (e.g., Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 2000). Importantly, it is an undeniable reality that in the larger majority of science classrooms across the world, textbooks become the curriculum and determine, to a much larger extent than envisioned by science educators, what is taught and learned about science in these classrooms (Kahveci, 2010; Roseman, Stern, & Koppal, 2010). Such an impact gains significance in light of the fact that very few, if any, commercially viable science textbooks have been recently designed specifically to help K-12 students develop informed conceptions of NOS, as emphasized in current science education reform documents.