ABSTRACT

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize engaging students in science practices through which students can develop content, procedural, and epistemic knowledge of science. To accomplish this goal, science teachers must embed science content in authentic science practice. Successfully integrating content and practice will require significant epistemological and pedagogical shifts on the part of teachers. However, teachers cannot meaningfully achieve this integration if they, themselves, do not understand the epistemic underpinnings of the science practices. Given the lack of literature specifically addressing teachers’ epistemic understanding of science practices, we conducted a qualitative study to fill this gap in the literature. Data were collected using an open-ended online survey, and responses from 128 science teachers were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Our results indicate that relatively few teachers exhibited more nuanced epistemic understandings of scientific practice that extend beyond the rigid, linear scientific method presented in science textbooks. Teachers broadly believed that scientific inquiry must begin with a question, seldom cite methodological differences when comparing two experiments, frequently viewed models as teaching tools for representations and explanation, and hardly discussed computational thinking in terms beyond data analysis. More importantly, teachers viewed that scientific conclusions are heavily influenced by researchers’ perceptions and biases. To enhance science teachers’ sophisticated epistemic understanding of science, we highlight the need not only to engage teachers in authentic scientific inquiry experiences, but also to provide opportunities to learn how to effectively integrate science practices as a coherent system, especially computational thinking and models, into science lessons.

摘要

下一代科学标准（NGSS）强调让学生参与科学实践，通过该实践，学生可以发展科学的内容，程序和认知知识。为了实现这一目标，理科教师必须将科学内容嵌入到真实的科学实践中。成功整合内容和实践将需要教师进行重大的认识论和教学上的转变。但是，如果教师本人不了解科学实践的认知基础，那么他们将无法有意义地实现这种整合。鉴于缺乏专门针对教师对科学实践的认识认识的文献，我们进行了定性研究以填补文献中的这一空白。数据是使用开放式在线调查收集的，并使用恒定比较法分析了128位理科教师的回答。我们的研究结果表明，相对而言，很少有教师对科学实践表现出更多细微的认识论理解，这超出了科学教科书中所提出的严格的线性科学方法。老师们普遍认为，科学探究必须从一个问题开始，在比较两个实验时很少引用方法上的差异，经常将模型视为表示和解释的教学工具，并且很少讨论超越数据分析的计算思维。更重要的是，教师认为科学结论在很大程度上受到研究人员的看法和偏见的影响。为了增强理科老师对科学的深刻认识，