Nature of Science as Portrayed in the Middle School Science and Technology Curriculum: The Case of Turkey

Year 2017, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 14 - 28, 31.01.2017

Kemal Izci

https://doi.org/10.21891/jeseh.275656

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Representation of nature of science (NOS) within curricula including
standards, grade level expectations, and textbooks and their alignment with
each other to achieve teaching NOS is crucial. Thus, the aims of the study were
to a) assess how NOS is portrayed in standards, grade level expectations and a
teacher edition of seventh grade textbook of science and technology curriculum
of Turkey and demonstrate b) how they aligned with each other to support
teaching of NOS. A conceptual analysis was used to achieve the aims of the
study by focusing on aspects of NOS , namely: the empirical, tentative,
inferential, creative, theory-laden, and social dimensions of NOS; myth of “The
Scientific Method”; nature of theories and laws; and social and cultural
embeddedness of science. Analyses indicated that the targeted NOS aspects were
insufficiently portrayed in these documents in that some important aspects of
NOS (e.g., scientific theories and laws) are not included while some others
(e.g., inferential and theory-driven) are implicitly represented. The findings
also showed that the alignment between the curriculum and the textbook is not
adequate to transfer the aims of the curriculum for NOS into classroom
practices. Implications for curriculum developers and textbook publishers were
also discussed.

Keywords

Nature of science, Science curricula, Textbooks

References

• Izci, K. (2017). Nature of science as portrayed in the middle school science and technology curriculum: The case of Turkey. Journal of Education in Science, Environment and Health (JESEH), 3(1), 14-28.