Part Of Scientific Literacy Research Articles

Exploration of Argumentation and Scientific Reasoning Ability in Phenomenon-Based Argument-Driven Inquiry Learning in Newton's Law Material

The ability of argumentation and scientific reasoning is part of scientific literacy which is a requirement for learning science. Students get knowledge according to the understanding of scientists, which is important for students to have, especially in Newton's law material, but learning in the classroom currently has not developed argumentation and scientific reasoning skills properly. This study used a mixed method design with an embedded experimental design carried out offline. This research design was used in order to obtain an in-depth picture of students' argumentation and scientific reasoning abilities. The results showed that students' argumentation and scientific reasoning abilities increased significantly after being given the phenomenon-based Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) learning model. This learning has a moderate effect on argumentation skills and a very large one on students' scientific reasoning. Even though students' argumentation abilities have increased significantly, on average students still have difficulty in associating a phenomenon with the appropriate Newton's Laws. Scientific reasoning students also experience positive changes. This is evidenced by the increase in post-test scores and effect sizes which are in the very large category

System thinking as a sustainable competency in facilitating conceptual change through STEM based learning in biology

Pro-contra about concept mastery in STEM learning inspired this study to encounter conceptual change and STEM-project at the same time using R and D at different educational (junior, senior, university) levels. System thinking was chosen as medium to combine conceptual change and STEM learning, as it was found as part of Scientific Literacy in PISA and STEM approach, and as a UNESCO competency for Education for Sustainable Development. Groups of students from different levels of education were involved as research subjects. Certain consideration in choosing the biology topics and pre-posttests (concept mastery and system thinking skills) was administered for all level. Using system thinking oriented learning material it was reported that 7th graders can understand (plant & animal) cells structure well, no misconception for new concepts (prokaryote, plant tissue system), as they experience EDP in STEM-project and produce cell models. Conceptual change in high schools still resulted in misconception when the pre-post tests were taken once, but not for pre-post tests taken in each meeting. Topic choice and specific learning material for STEM based learning with system thinking oriented are very important to have complex system topic that enable to develop three types of system thinking.

Analysis of physics parameters on aerophone musical instruments from Minangkabau as context meaningful learning

The scientific context as part of scientific literacy becomes the need to apply 21st century skills in learning physics according to the 2013 curriculum. The fundamental problem in this study is the ability of prospective teacher students to design saintific context in the physics material for senior high school grade XI is not optimal despite using a variety of literature and media. This has an impact on student mastery of all physics material of grade XI is still low. The solution offered is the provision of learning resources sourced from local wisdom. The Minangkabau musical instruments are one of the tangible local wisdom related with the physics material for senior high school grade XI, namely sound waves. The purpose of this study was to analyze of physics parameters for aerophone musical instruments from Minangkabau as context of meaningful learning. The type of research to be conducted is qualitative research. This research just arrived at the stage of data analysis Visual Analyser. The aerophone musical instruments from Minangkabau analyzed for physics parameters are “pupuik batang padi”, “bansi”, “sampelong”, and “saluang”. Data collection in this study uses the analysis of the results of the Visual Analyzer simulation and Focus Group of Discussion (FGD). The data analysis technique used is qualitative with three components, namely: data reduction, data presentation, conclusions and verification. The results of the analysis showed that “pupuik batang padi”, “bansi”, “sampelong”, and “saluang” can be categorized into open ended pipes but bansi can be categorized into closed ended pipes according fundamental frequency detected by VA. The conclusion of the research shows that parameters of physics on aerophone musical instruments from Minangkabau fulfill one of the attributes of meaningful learning, namely learning is a process of experiencing because it is related to the natural context and the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.

Chemistry Teachers’ Views about Scientific Inquiry: A Study in East Java Province of Indonesia

Scientific inquiry is a part of scientific literacy which is probably one of the main goals of science education. This paper reports a preliminary study on chemistry teachers’ understanding about scientific inquiry carried out using a Questionnaire of Views about Scientific Inquiry (VASI) with background of chemistry knowledge. Sample of the study is 32 chemistry teachers of senior and vocational high schools. Results showed that (1) the chemistry teachers held more informed views than science teachers reported in the previous study and (2) the pattern of chemistry teachers’ understanding about aspects of scientific inquiry is the same as senior high school students’ understanding. These indicate that (1) the complexity of leraning material people learned may be influences their inference ability and (2) the first year university chemistry students’ understanding of scientific inquiry are the strengthening of the perception they get from their teachers when they were school students.

Familiaridad e interés en los procesos de la ciencia de los estudiantes de Educación Secundaria

Abstract Introduction. Skills for science processes are a part of scientific literacy and also are a very important component of science teaching. There are, nevertheless, not enough studies in Iberoamerica about these skills in secondary education. Objective. This is an exploratory study that aims to determine the familiarity and interest degrees of secondary education students on these skills. Materials and methods. A questionnaire was given to 144 Spanish secondary students, from five different education levels. In that questionnaire, their familiarity and interest degrees on the skills of the basic and integrated sciences are demanded. Results. The familiarity degree with the sciences processes is growing as the academic level is higher. Nevertheless, the interest degree reaches its maximum levels at the beginning and at the end of the secondary education. The U Mann-Whitney´s test reveals that there are not significant differences between the basic and the integrated skills. The chi square test demonstrates a significant association between the familiarity degree and the academic level and between the interest degree and the academic level. Conclusions. The familiarity degree of secondary education students with the skills related to science processes is relatively good (except for three integrated skills) and is significantly better at the end of the secondary education. The interest degree is really high and is significantly higher at the beginning and at the end of the secondary education.

Development of the concept of cell division through biology education

School practice shows that a cell and the related cell division represent many problems for students as well as teachers. Students often hold misconceptions which form in everyday life under the influence of people with whom students live, as well as the media. Teachers are confronted with the problem of how to most effectively introduce this subject in class. They should enable students to understand basics of the cell and its implications as part of scientific literacy in the contemporary world. This survey used a test to assess the knowledge of students about cells. It included students on three levels of education; 13 year-olds, 15 year-olds, and 21 year-olds. The results showed that the knowledge of both younger groups was insufficient. The knowledge of the oldest group was substantially better, but still not satisfactory. It also showed that many students learn isolated facts and do not see the relationships between those facts. We believe that active methods of work in the classroom which are taken from everyday life could improve these results.

Student Understanding of Scientific Hypotheses, Theories & Laws: Exploring the influence of a non-majors college introductory Biology course

Although an important part of scientific literacy, most students hold misconceptions regarding the nature of science (NOS). We investigated the influence of a nonmajors' introductory biology course on college students' understanding of NOS in the context of instructor's NOS conceptions and instructional practices. Five instructors and 287 students were administered Views on ScienceTechnol ogySociety (VOSTS) questionnaire. Students took VOSTS as prepost tes t. All instructors and selected students were interviewed to corroborate VOSTS responses. Selected class sessions of all instructors were video recorded and transcribed to document instructional styles and communication of NOS. Results indicate that in some areas of NOS the course impacted the students negatively, in others there was no impact, while in still others the impact varied by instructor. Whether negative or positive, several instances indicate that the course did impact student understanding. Here, we focus on change in student understanding with regard to the relationships and distinctions between scientific hypotheses, theories and laws.