Scientific knowledge building: a curriculum module to scaffold student learning about the nature of science
Date
2018
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The purpose of this Executive Position Paper project was to develop educational resources to support the teaching of nature of science topics to undergraduate students at Delaware Technical Community College. The investigation was driven by two exploratory projects and a review of the literature. The first exploratory project examined the presentation of the nature of science in a sampling of undergraduate entry level science textbooks across a variety of science disciplines. This study found a wide range of coverage given to nature of science topics, and that overall, the deductive method of scientific reasoning was represented more often and, in more detail, than inductive methods of primary scientific investigation. Further, there was very little description in the sampled textbooks about how science builds bigger explanatory ideas in science. ☐ The second exploratory study was an analysis of the scientific reasoning used in empirical research studies published in the journal, Science. The results of this second study, while limited in scope, indicated that the inductive reasoning-based empirical studies are more common in science than is represented by college science textbooks. A review of the literature found many valuable contributions regarding scientific knowledge building and the nature of science. Still, there is a need for student-friendly teaching tools to support teaching the role of both deductive and inductive scientific reasoning in building scientific knowledge and how key nature of science properties emerge from an inherent science logic framework. ☐ The Scientific Knowledge Building Curriculum module was developed as an attempt to meet this instructional need. The curriculum module includes four lessons that begin by connecting to students’ previous knowledge and then builds in complexity and intellectual rigor. The curriculum module was designed using Learning-Focused active learning strategies to increase student engagement and higher order thinking (Higher Order Thinking: Increasing the Rigor of Learning-Focused Lessons, 2013). Core to this curriculum module is a new construct, the Science Logic Framework, which along with authentic science examples, plays a key role in scaffolding student understanding. The Scientific Knowledge Building Curriculum module is situated in a website to take advantage of interactive components and to facilitate sharing and refining the content over time. ☐ Final recommendations for building on this project include 1) developing and implementing a formal assessment of the module, 2) including additional interactive components, including one that was originally envisioned but which had to be put on hold due to the extensive back-end coding it would require, and 3) creating a plan for dissemination and continuous improvement of this Scientific Knowledge Building Curriculum Module.