Nature Of Science Questionnaire Research Articles

High School Students’ and Parents’ Perceptions of the Nature of Science

Today, only people, who truly understand what scientific knowledge is and how it is obtained, are considered scientifically literate. This understanding expected in today’s scientific areas is called the nature of science (NOS). This study aimed to determine the perceptions of high school students and their parents regarding NOS. In addition, the changes in high school students’ and their parents’ perceptions of NOS according to various variables were examined. The data of the research were collected in the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The research involves students and their parents studying in high schools in Konya, a Central Anatolian province of Turkey. The sample group of the research consists of 428 high school students and 428 of their parents. “NOS Questionnaire as Argumentation (NSAAQ)” developed by Sampson and Clark (2006) and translated into Turkish by Çetin et al. (2010) was used. As the results showed, students’ perceptions of NOS did not differ significantly according to gender, grade level, place of residence, and average monthly income of the family. Only in the first dimension (How do you define scientific knowledge?) was there a significant difference between parents in favor of men. However, this difference had a low effect size. On the other hand, the fact that parents with higher education had average score and the existence of a significant linear correlation between NOS perceptions of students and their parents were two noteworthy findings. From this perspective, it can be said that today’s formal education process in Turkey has significant deficiencies in terms of a more advanced understanding of NOS. In summary, it is clear that the desired development has not been achieved in the perceptions of high school students regarding NOS in formal education in Turkey.

Exploration of Student's Critical Thinking Skills in the Context of Chemistry Based on the Nature of Science

Understanding the Nature of Science (NoS) could help improve thinking and reasoning skills. Students could use their critical thinking (CT) skills to help themselves in solving problems. Based on the NoS, this study sought to assess the CT skills of chemistry pre-service teachers at university. This study used a qualitative with a case study as the method. A purposive sampling technique was elaborated to select the research object. The respondents were chemistry students at university. The data sources were open-ended questions and interviews from the NoS questionnaire. The method of data triangulation was employed to conclude the study findings. The results showed that the CT skills possessed by chemistry pre-service teachers: were interpretation skills, inference skills, and self-regulation skills. Those skills were still in the low category. The participants also lacked in explaining, evaluating, and analyzing the students' abilities. Thus, the understanding of NoS informants can be categorized in the transitional cohort. The research findings became the department's input because some students still struggled to analyze NoS aspects in chemistry, especially through each stage of CT skills. Hence, future research is suggested to develop the students' CT skills in applying the NoS aspect in chemistry learning, especially for the pre-service teacher.

The Influence of Imagination and Creativity-Based Science Teaching on Turkish Middle School Students’ Nature of Science Views

This study aimed to investigate the influence of teaching materials that can enrich the views of middle school students about the role of imagination and creativity in scientific research. The study was conducted in a village middle school in Rize Turkey. It used a case study method within the scope of the qualitative research approach, seven activities were designed by the researchers toward the imaginative and creative nature of science (NoS). They were applied to the study group by the first researcher for twelve weeks. Data were collected with four open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews as also reflective writings and worksheets during the intervention. The NoS questionnaire and subsequent interviews were administered to participants twice, at the beginning and the end of the teaching. By using qualitative data, pre-post profiles of the students regarding the NoS were created. Each profile was classified using three-stage categories informed, transitional and naïve. It was concluded that students’ naive views on the imaginary and creative NoS changed towards transitional and/or informed.

Determining pre-service science teachers’ perceptions of science, nature of science, and the relationship between them

Besides being a necessity for science education, understanding the nature of science and the concept of science also facilitates individuals’ daily lives and affects their decisions as conscious citizens. This study aims to determine the pre-service science teachers' perceptions of science and their views on the nature of science and the relationship between them. The study was carried out with prospective science teachers from different undergraduate levels. Perception of Science Questionnaire and Views on Nature of Science Questionnaire were used as data collection tools. The views on the nature of science were coded as unacceptable, partially acceptable and acceptable and statistical analyses were carried out accordingly. Pre-service science teachers’ views on the nature of science were found to be unacceptable and partially acceptable. Nature of science views generally showed a positive tendency throughout the undergraduate education. The metaphors obtained from the concept of science were analyzed by content analysis. The metaphors obtained were categorized as dynamic, guiding, cumulative, requirement andinfinite. According to the results, the perceptions of pre-service science teachers were positive, but also showed some deficiencies and misconceptions. Finally, pre-service science teachers’ choice of metaphors, although not statistically significant, differed according to their grade level. No statistically significant relationship was found between pre-service science teachers' views on nature of science and their perceptions of science.

Effects of Islamic Scientist History on Seventh Graders' Understandings of Nature of Science in a Thai Islamic Private School

Societies and cultures influence students' understandings of the nature of science (NOS). An approach to promote an accurate understanding of the nature of science is to manage the learning based on students' contexts through the integration of their social, cultural, and religious stories. Hence, this study investigated the pedagogical effects of Islamic scientist history on seventh graders' understandings of the nature of science in an Islamic private school, Yala Province, Thailand. Through a mixed-methods convergent design, data were collected from 30 seventh graders in an Islamic private school of Yala who were selected through a convenience sampling. The instruments were 1) a NOS questionnaire and 2) a semi-structured interview on the understanding of the nature of science. The quantitative data were statistically analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and a dependent t-test. The qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis and categorized into three groups based on the views of the nature of science: informed views (IV), transitional views (TV), and naive views (NV). Results revealed that the students who learned from the history of Islamic scientists had gained higher mean scores on the understanding of the nature of science at the .05 significance level and transformed their views from transitional (TV) and naive (NV) to informed (IV) in every aspect of the nature of science. This can be summarized that applying the history of Islamic scientists with the explicit reflective NOS teaching is practical in Islamic private school. To make this change happen in the unique school context, science teachers must devote time to analyzing the NOS hidden in the history of Islamic scientists. In addition, another Islamic context, such as local Islamic wisdom, could also promote the understanding of the NOS for students in private Islamic schools.

Mobile-Nature of Science Model of Learning for Supporting Student Performance on General Chemistry Classroom

Development of student understanding of nature of science, conceptual understanding, and scientific literacy on learning must be supported by proper learning process. An offline and online environment on mobile learning oriented with Nature of Science oriented learning can be considered to commit. Mobile-Nature of Science (Mobile-NOS) is suitable model of learning for this purpose. Evaluating the influence of Mobile-NOS model of learning application towards Students' understanding of nature of science, chemistry concept understanding, and scientific literacy on general chemistry learning are focus of this study. This study was carried out by posttest only control group design, in form of quasi experimental. There are 44 sample determined by saturated sampling technique of general chemistry students as population. Sample divided into two group equally, the experimental and control group. Data were collected by understanding nature of science questionnaire, scientific literacy test, and chemistry conceptual understanding test. Data was analyzed by independence sample t test. The result of the study showed that the application mobile-NOS model of learning make students better on understanding of nature of science, conceptual understanding, and scientific literacy

PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ VIEW OF NATURE OF SCIENCE (NOS)

The purpose of the study was to investigate pre-service teachers’ view of nature of science (NOS). A descriptive survey design was used for the study. A convenience sampling technique was used to get the participants. Participants were made up of 231 level 100 pre-service teachers (119 males and 112 females) from five colleges of education in Ghana. All the colleges of education were under the same mentor university. Participants completed the view of nature of science questionnaire (NOSQ) through online learning platforms. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that in general pre-service have no adequate conceptions about nature of science. However, pre-service teachers have informed views of some aspects of nature of science. The results revealed that 56 (24.2%) of pre-service teachers have naive view of NOS. The results also revealed that 89 (38.5%) of pre-service teachers have transitional view of NOS. The results also revealed that 86 (37.2%) of pre-service teachers have informed view of NOS. There was no significant difference in pre-service teachers view of NOS between males (M = 3.76, SD = .389) and females (M = 3.79, SD = .376), t (229) = -.707, p = .48. Therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed no significant difference in pre-service teachers’ view of NOS by programme options, [F (2,228) = .783, p = .458.] Article visualizations:

Visões acerca da natureza da ciência de formandos em licenciatura em química

A ideia de Ciência como conhecimento neutro, racional, construído indutivamente a partir de experimentos objetivos vem sendo criticada desde o começo do século XX. Nesse contexto investigativo várias pesquisas têm considerado a Ciência como formada por uma diversidade de aspectos, como sua natureza empírica, criativa, guiada por concepções prévias, influenciada e influenciadora da sociedade, etc. Neste artigo, são apresentadas algumas compreensões de formandos de licenciatura em Química, acerca da Natureza da Ciência. Para a coleta de dados foi aplicado o questionário Views of Nature of Science em sua forma C (VNOS-C) e realizada uma entrevista com os estudantes para analisar as respostas de cada sujeito, à luz dos aspectos da Natureza da Ciência descritos por Lederman et al. (2002), que foram tomados como categorias a priori. A análise de cada aspecto permitiu a elaboração de um quadro com a descrição da visão de cada estudante acerca de cada aspecto e, posteriormente, foi possível observar um quadro geral das visões destes estudantes. Este estudo soma-se a outros que observam a necessidade da discussão acerca da Natureza da Ciência ao longo da formação docente, ao evidenciar que alguns aspectos ainda são incompreendidos por estudantes prestes a se formar.

The Development of Students’ Nature of Science Views in Cellular Respiration Context

The study aimed to investigate the development of students’ views of nature of science (NOS) in cellular respiration context, including scientific knowledge is tentative, scientists are creative, scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence, science is a complex social activity, and science has global implications. Grade X students (n=15) registered in English Program (EP) of a high school in Phitsanulok Thailand were taught about the NOS in cellular respiration context through the implementation of conceptual change approach. The intervention had been conducted in three repetitive cycles of action research, along with the utilization of a series of instruments: the Nature of Science Questionnaire (NOSQ) and Cellular Respiration Questionnaire (CRQ), nine 55-minute lessons, semi-structured observations, and semi-structured interviews. The result of content analysis and triangulation showed that the implementation of conceptual change approach in this study had been effective in enhancing students views of targeted NOS aspects, in which the highest improvement regarding scientific knowledge is tentative and scientist are creative. Integration of Nature of Science aspects in cellular respiration context can be used to enhance students understanding on tentativeness nature of science and the role of creativity in the development of scientific knowledge.

A Qualitative Study to Explain Middle School Student’s Understandings of Nature of Science

This study was conducted with the aim to explain 7th grade middle school students’ nature of science understandings by employing qualitative measuring tools of an interview and a questionnaire. In this context, the participants were 17 7th grade students. In order to explain the participants’ nature of science understandings, first a nature of science questionnaire to explain their nature of science was conducted. Following, in depth interviews were conducted with the students. The four facets of the students’ nature of science understandings were categorized using three dimensions: informed-transitional-naive and by constantly comparing the data. The results gathered by the aforementioned analysis indicated that most students’ nature of science understandings were weak or varying (78%) and only 22% of the students had adequate understandings. In this respect, it is suggested that the direct-reflective methods should be used instead of indirect ones for students to understand the real nature of science.

Effects of Interest in Science, Study Habits, Sex and Level of Study on the Nature of Science Literacy Level of Undergraduate Chemistry Students of the University of the West Indies, Barbados

In this study, the nature of science (NOS) literacy level of students enrolled in chemistry courses at the UWI-Cave Hill Campus as well as the effect of the students’ general interest in Science, their study habits, level of study and sex on their level of NOS literacy was investigated. A descriptive survey research design was employed utilizing two instruments: the Predictors of Students’ Knowledge of NOS Questionnaire and Wenning’s NOS Literacy Test (NOSLiT). There were 80 students who participated in the study and the data collected was analyzed using the mean scores and standard deviations as well as ANOVA, t-test and linear regression at a 95% confidence level. It was concluded that on average the chemistry students demonstrated good knowledge of the nature of science. There was statistical difference in the students’ level of NOS literacy based on their study habits but not their sex, level of study or interest in Science. The joint contribution of variables to the students; level of NOS literacy was not significant however; their interest in Science was the greatest contributor. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2015.v5n2p267

Effect of Summer Science Camp on Turkish Gifted Students’ Views of Nature of Science

This study examines the effect of a summer science camp involved in explicit-reflective Nature of Science (NOS) instruction on Turkish gifted students’ views of NOS. During the teaching intervention, six experienced faculties and two teachers taught six explicit-reflective NOS activities (90 minutes per day through a seven-day period) to 30 gifted students drawn from three Science and Art Centers (SACs). An open-ended Views of NOS Questionnaire was used to assess the students’ NOS views before and after the summer science camp. The pre-test results showed that nearly half of the participants fell into either the informed level or the transitional level of the NOS. After the teaching intervention, findings revealed that the number of students, who held naïve views of empirical, creative and imaginative aspects reduced, and the students improved to the transitional view, not informed one. In addition, a few students’ views of the tentative aspect in the NOS changed from naïve and transitional views into informed ones. These slight improvements in the views are likely due to the gifted students’ pre-existing knowledge of the NOS and supplying comprehensive instruction and training through limited time. A residential summer science program is recommended to overcome the encountered pitfalls and to educate the Turkish gifted students.

UNDERSTANDINGS OF ADVANCED STUDENTS ON NATURE OF SCIENCE AND THEIR MOTIVATIONAL STATUS TO LEARN NATURE OF SCIENCE: A TURKISH CASE

In this study, the purpose is to describe advanced students’ motivational status to learn Nature of Science (NOS) and their understandings on NOS by using Ranking Questionnaire for “interest” and “importance” and modified version of Views on Nature of Science Questionnaire. The results indicated that the participants did not see NOS as an important subject compared to mathematics, science and social science subjects. Moreover, the participants were more interested in mathematics and science subjects than in NOS subject. The results on NOS understandings also showed that the participants were transitional in terms of “evidence and observation based science” and “subjectivity” while they had informed understandings on “place of imagination and creativity in science”. They were also naïve in terms of “existence of one method in science”, “no hierarchy between theory and law”, “tentativeness” and “difference between observation and inference”. The results explained an important motivational problem to implement any NOS teaching methods to change misunderstandings. Key words: advanced high school students, motivation, nature of science, school subjects.

CONCEPTIONS OF THE NATURE OF SCIENCE—ARE THEY GENERAL OR CONTEXT SPECIFIC?

The study investigates the relationship between general and context-specific conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). The categorization scheme by Osborne et al. (J Res Sci Teach 40:692–720, 2003) served as the theoretical framework of the study. In the category nature of scientific knowledge, the certainty, development, simplicity, justification, and source of scientific knowledge were distinguished. In the category methods of science, the purpose of science and the creativity of scientists were mentioned. The study was conducted with 221 secondary school students, who filled in a 40-item questionnaire on general NOS conceptions. Furthermore, students were provided with different contexts by a short description of 10 scientific theories. After the theory introduction, students indicated context-specific conceptions as well as the importance and familiarity of each theory. Study results show that higher familiarity with scientific theories is related to a more informed view about the general nature of science. Correlational analyses illustrate that context-specific and general conceptions about NOS are not independent from each other but have a mutual core. Context-specific conceptions are not so different from their general counterparts that these aspects cannot be combined in a NOS questionnaire.

South African science teachers' perceptions of the nature of science

The paper describes data on South African science teachers' perceptions of the nature of science (NOS) based on responses to a questionnaire and subsequent focus group interviews. One hundred thirty five veteran intermediate and senior phase (grades 4–9) teachers completed the NOS questionnaire in English. The sample is from rural and semi-urban areas of the Transkei in the Eastern Cape province. Focus group interviews clarified the teachers' questionnaire responses to the NOS prompts. The interviews also examined teachers' perception of the relationship of science to society and their beliefs on how scientific knowledge becomes reliable. The interviews concluded with a series of questions about the HIV-AIDS connection as a particular scientific and curricular topic that may promote discussions of the NOS. Despite the fact that the questionnaire was successful in prompting rich discussions of the NOS, few generally valid interpretations could be drawn from the survey data alone.