Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice

Irene Y. Salter, Leslie J. Atkins

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

There is debate in the science education literature about how best to improve students' understanding of the nature of science: Can an "immersion" experience in the process of doing science like scientists outperform explicit instruction on the nature of science? Central in resolving that debate is the development of appropriate measures of students' understanding of the nature of science. We report on a course in which students engaged in sophisticated scientific practices, and yet student responses to a standard nature of science survey showed surprisingly few pre-post changes. We argue that this data suggests that when students do science like scientists do, they gain a grasp of scientific practice that cannot be measured by declarative means such as surveys and interviews.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2012 Physics Education Research Conference
EditorsN. Sanjay Rebello, Paula V. Engelhardt, Alice D. Churukian
Pages362-365
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9780735411340
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013
Event2012 Physics Education Research Conference, PERC 2012 - Philadelphia, United States
Duration: 1 Aug 20122 Aug 2012

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume1513
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

Conference2012 Physics Education Research Conference, PERC 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPhiladelphia
Period1/08/122/08/12

Keywords

  • inquiry
  • nature of science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this