Upper Primary Students’ Views Vis-à-Vis Scientific Reasoning Progress Levels in Physics

Tsedeke Abate; Kassa Michael; Carl Angell

doi:10.29333/ejmste/10834

Full Text (PDF)

Tsedeke Abate ¹ ² ^* , Kassa Michael ¹, Carl Angell ³

More Detail

¹ Department of SME, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA² Department of Natural Sciences, Hossana College of Teachers Education, P.O. Box 94, Hossana, ETHIOPIA³ Department of Physics, University of Oslo, NORWAY^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore grade eight students’ views in terms of different scientific reasoning progress levels. To explore students’ views, phenomenographic study was used. The qualitative analysis of students’ interviews elicited three major themes of students’ views about scientific reasoning progress levels: naïve, mixed, and scientific, along with the underlying ways of reasoning patterns. It was revealed that students think that scientific knowledge is static, fixed, universal, certain, and unchangeable. It is recommended that a need to consider an inquiry-based teaching in combination with the contextualized approach of nature of science in school science curriculum and classroom instruction to promote students’ scientific views on the nature of science and higher scientific reasoning abilities.

Keywords

scientific reasoning
students’ view
phenomenographic study
nature of science

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 17, Issue 5, May 2021, Article No: em1958

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10834

Publication date: 15 Apr 2021

Article Views: 2366

Article Downloads: 1447

Open Access Disclosures References How to cite this article

Disclosure

Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest is declared by author(s).

Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings and conclusions are available upon request from the corresponding author(s).

References

Abate, T., Michael, K., & Angell, C. (2020). Assessment of Scientific Reasoning: Development and Validation of Scientific Reasoning Assessment Tool. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(12), em1927. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9353
Akerson, V., & Donnelly, L.A. (2010). Teaching nature of science to K-12 students: What understanding can they attain? International Journal of Science Education, 32(1), 97-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690902717283
Alemu, M., Kind, P. Tadesse, M., Atnafu, M., & Michael, K. (2017). Challenges of science teacher education in low-income nations - The case of Ethiopia. ESERA-17 conference proceedings, Dublin, Ireland.
Alemu, M., Tadesse, M., Mickael, K., & Atnafu, M. (2019). Pre-Service Physics Teachers’ Physics Understanding and Upper Primary Teacher Education in Ethiopia. Bulgarian Journal of Science and Education Policy (BJSEP), 13(2), 204-224.
Altinok, N., Angrist, N., & Patrinos, H. A. (2018). Global data set on education quality (1965-2015). World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-8314
Anderman, E. M., Sinatra, G. M., & Gray, D. L. (2012). The challenges of teaching and learning about science in the twenty-first century: Exploring the abilities and constraints of adolescent learners. StudieS in Science education, 48(1), 89-117. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2012.655038
Andersen, C., & Garcia-Mila, M. (2017). Scientific reasoning during inquiry. In K. S. Taber & B. Alpan (Eds.), Science education. new directions in mathematics and science education (pp. 105-117). Rotterdam: Sense. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-749-8_8
Ayene, M., Kriek, J., & Damtie, B. (2011). Wave-particle duality and uncertainty principle: Phenomenographic categories of description of tertiary physics students’ depictions. Physical Review Special Topics Physics Education Research, 7, 020113. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.7.020113
Bao, L., Cai, T., Koenig, K., Fang, K., Han, J., Wang, J., Liu, Q., Ding, L., Cui, L., Luo, Y., Wang, Y., Li, L., Wu, N. (2009). Learning and scientific reasoning. Science, 323(5914), 586-587. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1167740
Bertamini, M., Spooner A., & Hecht, H. (2004). The representation of naive knowledge about physics. In G. Malcolm (Ed.) Multidisciplinary Approaches to Visual Representations and Interpretations. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1571-0831(04)80030-3
Bilican, K., Cakiroglu, J., & Oztekin, C. (2015). How contextualized learning settings enhance meaningful nature of science understanding. Science Education International, 26(4), 463-487.
Billingsley, B., & Fraser, S. (2018). Towards an understanding of epistemic insight: The nature of science in real world contexts and a multidisciplinary arena. Research in Science Education, 48(6), 1107-1113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9776-x
Bloem, S. (2013). PISA in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 93, OECD. Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/5k41tm2gx2vd-en
Carey, S., & Smith, C. (1993). On understanding the nature of scientific knowledge. Educational Psychologist, 28(3), 235-251. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep2803_4
Chinn, C. A., & Malhotra, B. A. (2002). Epistemologically authentic inquiry in schools: A theoretical framework for evaluating inquiry tasks. Science Education, 86(2), 175-218. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.10001
Corcoran, T. B., Mosher, F. A., & Rogat, A. D. (2009). Learning progressions in science: An evidence-based approach to reform. Consortium for Policy Research in Education. https://doi.org/10.12698/cpre.2009.rr63
Cresswell, J., Schwantner, U., & Waters, C. (2015). A Review of International Large-Scale Assessments in Education: Assessing Component Skills and Collecting Contextual Data. PISA, The World Bank/ OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264248373-en
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Sage.
Croker, S., & Buchanan, H. (2011). Scientific reasoning in a real-world context: The effect of prior belief and outcome on children’s hypothesis testing strategies. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 29, 409-424. https://doi.org/10.1348/026151010X496906
Das, P. M., Faikhamta, C., & Punsuvon, V. (2019). Bhutanese students’ views of nature of science: A case study of culturally rich country. Research in Science Education, 49(2), 391-412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-017-9611-9
Demssie, Y. N., Biemans, H. J. A., Wesselink, R., & Mulder, M. (2020). Combining Indigenous Knowledge and Modern Education to Foster Sustainability Competencies: Towards a Set of Learning Design Principles. Sustainability, 12(17), 6823. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176823
Ding, L. (2018). Progression trend of scientific reasoning from elementary school to university: A large-scale cross-grade survey among Chinese students. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 16(8), 1479-1498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-017-9844-0
Dole, S., Bloom, L., & Kowalske, K. (2016). Transforming pedagogy: Changing perspectives from teacher-centered to learner-centered. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 10(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1538
Driver, R., Newton, P., & Osborne, J. (2000). Establishing the norms of scientific argumentation in classrooms. Science Education, 84(3), 287-312. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-237X(200005)84:3<287::AID-SCE1>3.0.CO;2-A
Dunbar, K. N., & Klahr, D. (2012). Scientific thinking and reasoning. In K. J. Holyoak & R. G. Morrison (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of thinking and reasoning. Oxford Handbooks Online. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734689.013.0035
Elby, A. (1999). Another reason that students learn by rote. Physics Education Research: A supplement to the American Journal of Physics, 67(7), S53-S60. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.19081
Erlina, N., Susantini, E., Wasis, W., Wicaksono, I., & Pandiangan, P. (2018). The Effectiveness of evidence-based reasoning in inquiry-based physics teaching to increase students’ scientific reasoning. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 17(6), 972-985. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/18.17.972
Esanu, A., & Hatu, C. (2015). The significance of prior knowledge in physics Learning. The 11th International Scientific Conference eLearning and software for Education Bucharest. Bucharest, April 25-26.
Fernandes, G. W. R., Rodrigues, A. M., & Ferreira, C. A. (2018). Conceptions of the nature of science and technology: A study with children and youths in a non-formal science and technology education setting. Research in Science Education, 48(5), 1071-1106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9599-6
Fischer, F., Kollar, I., Ufer, S., Sodian, B., Hussmann, H., Pekrun, R., … Eberle, J. (2014). Scientific reasoning and argumentation: Advancing an interdisciplinary research agenda in education. Frontline Learning Research, 2(3), 28-45. https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v2i3.96
Ford, M. (2015). Educational Implications of Choosing “Practice” to Describe Science in the Next Generation Science Standards. Science Education, 99(6), 1041-1048. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21188
Ford, M. J., & Wargo, B. M. (2012). Dialogic framing of scientific content for conceptual and epistemic understanding. Science Education, 96, 369-391. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20482
Hammer, D., & Elby, A. (2003). Tapping epistemological resources for learning physics. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 12(1), 53-90. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327809JLS1201_3
Han, J. (2013). Scientific reasoning: Research, development, and assessment (Electronic Thesis or Dissertation). The Ohio State University. https://etd.ohiolink.edu
Hansson, L., & Leden, L. (2016). Working with the nature of science in physics class: turning ‘ordinary’ classroom situations into nature of science learning situations. Physics Education, 51(5), 55001-55006. https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9120/51/5/055001
Harlen, W. (2013). Assessment and Inquiry Based Science Education: Issues in Policy and Practice. Trieste: TWAS-Strada Costiera.
Hill, C. (2008). The post-scientific society. Issues in Science and Technology on Line, 24(1), 78-84. https://doi.org/10.1162/desi.2008.24.2.84
Joshi, R. D., & Verspoor, A. (2013). Secondary Education in Ethiopia: Supporting Growth and Transformation. World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9727-5
Kambeyo, L. (2017). Scientific Reasoning Skills: A Theoretical Background on Science Education. NERA Journal, 14, 40-64. http://doktori.bibl.u/
Kennedy, C. A., & Wilson, M. (2007). Using progress variables to interpret student achievement and progress. BEAR Report Series, 2006-12-01. University of California, Berkeley.
Kind, P. (2013). Establishing Assessment Scales Using a Novel Disciplinary Rationale for Scientific Reasoning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50(5), 530-560. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21086
Kind, P., & Osborne, J. (2017). Styles of scientific reasoning: A cultural rationale for science education? Science Education, 101(1), 8-31. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21251
Kinyota, M. (2020). The status of and challenges facing secondary science teaching in Tanzania: a focus on inquiry-based science teaching and the nature of science. International Journal of Science Education, 42(13), 2126-2144. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1813348
Kuhn, D., & Dean, D. (2005). Is developing scientific thinking all about learning to control variables? Psychological Science, 16, 866-870. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01628.x
Larsson, J., & Holmström, I. (2007). Phenomenographic or phenomenological analysis: Does it matter: Examples from a study on anaesthesiologists’ work. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 2, 55-64. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732317719433
Lederman, N. G. (2007). Nature of science: past, present, and future. In S. K. Abell & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Science Education (pp. 831-879). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lederman, N. G., Lederman, J. S., & Antink, A. (2013). Nature of science and scientific inquiry as contexts for the learning of science and achievement of scientific literacy. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 1(33), 138-147.
Marton, F. (1981). Phenomenography—describing conceptions of the world around us. Instructional Science, 10(2), 177-200. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00132516
Marton, F. (1986). Phenomenography: A research approach to investigating different understandings of reality. Journal of Thought, 21(3), 28-49.
Marton, F., & Booth, S. (1997). Learning and Awareness. Lawrence Erlbaum.
McNeill, K. L., & Krajcik, J. S. (2011). Supporting Grade 5-8 students in constructing explanations in science: The claim, evidence, and reasoning framework for talk and writing. Pearson.
Meyer, X., & Crawford, B. A. (2011). Teaching science as a cultural way of knowing: Merging authentic inquiry, nature of science, and multicultural strategies. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 6(3), 525-547. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-011-9318-6
National Research Council. (2011). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K-12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. The National Academies Press.
Niaz, M. (2017). Evolving nature of objectivity in the history of science and its implications for science education (Vol. 46). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67726-2
OECD. (2016). PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264266490-en
Opitz, A., Heene, M., & Fischer, F. (2017). Measuring scientific reasoning-a review of test instruments. Educational Research and Evaluation, 23(3-4), 78-101. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/13803611.2017.1338586
Osborne, J. (2013). The 21st century challenge for science education: Assessing scientific reasoning. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 10, 265-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2013.07.006
Osborne, J., Rafanelli, S., & Kind, P. (2018). Toward a more coherent model for science education than the crosscutting concepts of the next generation science standards: The affordances of styles of reasoning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(7), 962-981. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21460
Özdemir, G. (2007). The effects of the nature of science beliefs on science teaching and learning. Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 20(2), 355-372. http://hdl.handle.net/11452/11377
Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). Sage.
Schauble, L. (1996). The development of scientific reasoning in knowledge-rich contexts. Developmental Psychology, 32(1), 102-119. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.32.1.102
Shishigu, A. (2015). Foundation of Curriculum in Ethiopia: Historical, Philosophical, Psychological and Sociological Perspectives [Paper presentation]. 33rd May Annual International Educational Conference of Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, May 8-9, 2015.
Sjøberg, S. (2018). The power and paradoxes of PISA: Should we sacrifice Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) to climb on the Rankings? NorDiNa, Nordic studies in science education, 14(2), 186-202. https://doi.org/10.5617/nordina.6185
Smith, J. A. (2007). Hermeneutics, human sciences and health: Linking theory and practice. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 2, 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482620601016120
Solomon, A. (2008). Policy Formulation, Curriculum Development, and Implementation in Ethiopia. The Book Center, AAU.
Stadermann, H. K. E., & Goedhart, M. J. (2020). Secondary school students’ views of nature of science in quantum physics. International Journal of Science Education, 42(6), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1745926
Tadesse, M., Kind, P., Alemu, M., Atnafu, M., & Michael, K. (2017). Improving Scientific Reasoning Through Dialogical Teaching - An Intervention in Ethiopian Teacher Education [Paper presentation]. ESERA Conference, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland, 21-25 April 2017.
Teshome, N. B. (2017). Classroom Participation and Development of Student Attitudes: A Study of Active Learning Practices in Ethiopian Primary Education. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE), 4(3), 67-68. https://doi.org/10.20431/2349-0381.0403008
Transitional Government of Ethiopia [TGE]. (1994). Education and Training Policy. EMPDA.
Van der Graaf, J., Van de Sande, E., Gijsel, M., & Segers, E., (2019). A combined approach to strengthen children’s scientific thinking: direct instruction on scientific reasoning and training of teacher’s verbal support, International Journal of Science Education, 41(9), 1119-1138. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2019.1594442
Verspoor, A. M. (2008). At the crossroads: choices for secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 6537, Juni. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-7113-8
von Aufschnaiter, C., & Rogge, C. (2010). Misconceptions or Missing Conceptions? Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 6(1), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75223
Woodward, D. H. (1969). Teaching Science in Ethiopia. American Scientist, 57(4), 338A-344A. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27828735
Zhao, Y. (2017). What works may hurt: Side effects in education. Journal of Educational Change, 18, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-016-9294-4

How to cite this article

APA

Abate, T., Michael, K., & Angell, C. (2021). Upper Primary Students’ Views Vis-à-Vis Scientific Reasoning Progress Levels in Physics. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(5), em1958. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10834

Vancouver

Abate T, Michael K, Angell C. Upper Primary Students’ Views Vis-à-Vis Scientific Reasoning Progress Levels in Physics. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(5):em1958. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10834

AMA

Abate T, Michael K, Angell C. Upper Primary Students’ Views Vis-à-Vis Scientific Reasoning Progress Levels in Physics. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(5), em1958. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10834

Chicago

Abate, Tsedeke, Kassa Michael, and Carl Angell. "Upper Primary Students’ Views Vis-à-Vis Scientific Reasoning Progress Levels in Physics". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2021 17 no. 5 (2021): em1958. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10834

Harvard

Abate, T., Michael, K., and Angell, C. (2021). Upper Primary Students’ Views Vis-à-Vis Scientific Reasoning Progress Levels in Physics. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(5), em1958. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10834

MLA

Abate, Tsedeke et al. "Upper Primary Students’ Views Vis-à-Vis Scientific Reasoning Progress Levels in Physics". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 17, no. 5, 2021, em1958. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10834