Looking Forward: Teaching the Nature of Science of Today and Tomorrow

Y. Debbie Liu; Tina A. Grotzer

Looking Forward: Teaching the Nature of Science of Today and Tomorrow

In: Fostering Scientific Habits of Mind

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Y. Debbie Liu

Y. Debbie Liu Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA

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Tina A. Grotzer

Tina A. Grotzer Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts USA

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 9–36

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087909239_003

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The “nature of science” (NOS) refers to the epistemology, or the values and beliefs inherent to scientific knowledge and its development. It has been argued by numerous science education literature and organizations that teaching NOS in K-12 settings should be a major goal in science education, as it is of equal, if not greater, importance than traditional subject matter. Understanding NOS is believed to be crucial for scientific literacy and critical in preparing students to participate in a discovery-oriented field. However, it would be easy to fall into the trap of teaching the nature of yesterday’s science. This chapter examines key shifts occurring in the epistemology of science—from approaches that are reductionist to integrative/systems-based, from biological to mechanistic, and from hypothesis-driven to data-driven—by identifying emerging trends in current-day scientific practice from interviews with scientists working at the cutting edge of experimental research. The identified trends portray forms of thinking relevant to 21^st century science—systems thinking, mechanistic (engineering) thinking, interdisciplinary thinking, quantitative thinking, and distributed thinking. We consider the implications of these particular thinking patterns and argue for the necessity of a general stance of epistemological flexibility for educating the next generation of scientists.

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Fostering Scientific Habits of Mind

Pedagogical Knowledge and Best Practices in Science Education

Series: Contemporary Approaches to Research in Learning Innovations, Volume: 3

Cover Fostering Scientific Habits of Mind

E-Book ISBN:: 9789087909239

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 01 Jan 2009

Subjects
- Education
  - Science Education

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Looking Forward: Teaching the Nature of Science of Today and Tomorrow

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Fostering Scientific Habits of Mind

Pedagogical Knowledge and Best Practices in Science Education

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