Towards the Development of an Instructional Model That Enhances Junior Secondary Students’ Understanding of the Nature of Science

Abstract

Promoting students’ understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) has become a core element in science education. The understanding of NOS is emphasized both in the junior and the new senior science curricula in Hong Kong. This chapter reports the outcomes of a project which was a collaboration between the Hong Kong Institute of Education and a local secondary school. This chapter provides a summary of experience gained from a series of learning and teaching activities designed with an intention to raise junior secondary students’ understanding of NOS. The teaching strategies adopted followed an explicit approach to the teaching of NOS, and included the use of science stories, newspaper articles, an activity using a black box, and an activity inviting students to analyse some experimental data. These strategies were designed to stimulate students to consider the processes involved in a scientific investigation, the relationship between science and society, and the objective and subjective elements of data analysis. The chapter describes the considerations for designing, performing, and assessing science experiments, and the problems that teachers or students encountered in the process. Findings reflect what students have learnt, how their views of NOS may have changed, and whether the teaching activities can achieve the aims. The chapter concludes with teachers’ and students’ feedback, and recommendations for future development of teaching approaches that enhance students’ understanding of NOS.