A Place for the Nature of Biology in Biology Education (original) (raw)
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American Biology Teacher, 2018
An international group of biology education researchers offer their views on areas of scholarship that might positively impact our understanding of teaching and learning in biology and potentially inform practices in biology and life science instruction. This article contains a series of essays on topics that include a framework for biology education research, considerations in the preparation of biology teachers, increasing accessibility to biology for all learners, the role and challenges of language in biology teaching, sociocultural issues in biology instruction, and assisting students in coping with scientific innovations. These contributions are framed by a discussion of the value of defining several potential " grand challenges " in biology education.
Secondary School Biology Teachers' Perceptions of the Nature of Science
The purpose of this study was to investigate secondary school biology teachers' perceptions of the Nature of Science. Cross-section survey research design was employed. The population of the study comprised of all biology teachers in public secondary schools in Kericho and Kajiado counties in Kenya. The total population of biology teachers was 347 from which a sample of 205 was selected using proportionate random sampling technique. A biology teachers' questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that a high percentage of teachers do not have informed views of the Nature of Science (NOS). The findings provide valuable information to the teacher trainers and policy makers that majority of teachers' perceptions reflect their inaccurate conceptualization of the NOS and that is likely to influence their classroom practices. It is recommended that elements of the philosophy of science and more specifically NOS beintegratein their teacher education courses. This would enable teachers to have a better understanding of NOS and positively influence their classroom practices and enhance the learning of science subjects at the secondary school level.
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This book brings together for the first time philosophers of biology to write about some of the most central concepts and issues in their field from the perspective of biology education. The chapters of the book cover a variety of topics ranging from traditional ones, such as biological explanation, biology and religion or biology and ethics, to contemporary ones, such as genomics, systems biology or evolutionary developmental biology. Each of the 30 chapters covers the respective philosophical literature in detail and makes specific suggestions for biology education. The aim of this book is to inform biology educators, undergraduate and graduate students in biology and related fields, students in teacher training programs, and curriculum developers about the current state of discussion on the major topics in the philosophy of biology and its implications for teaching biology. In addition, the book can be valuable to philosophers of biology as an introductory text in undergraduate and graduate courses.
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Biology Teacher’s understanding of Nature of Science (NOS)
Journal of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
This study aims to determine the understanding of high school biology teachers about the nature of science. Teacher understanding was measured using the View of Nature of Science (VNOS) form C instrument developed and refined from VNOS form B to measure the understanding of the nature of science of secondary biology teachers. Understanding the nature of science needs to be owned by science students and teachers to avoid any misconceptions about science. Research on understanding the nature of science teachers of science is still not widely carried out in Indonesia. This qualitative study using VNOS Form involved 9 Biology teachers who taught in high schools from different schools. The VNOS Form C which has been translated into the Indonesia version was administered to respondents by using google form. Ten questions represent the 14 aspects of VNOS Form C. Based on the results of the data analysis, it is concluded that VNOS form C can be used to measure the understanding of the natu...
What sorts of worlds do we live in nowadays? Teaching biology in a post-modern age
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Most historians of science, sociologists of science, philosophers of science, and science educators now accept that there is no such thing as 'the scientific method'. We explore the implications of this view of the nature of science for biology education. Accepting that there is no single way of investigating and describing the world scientifically presents both challenges and opportunities, especially when teaching biology.
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2008
We describe research carried out with a prospective secondary biology teacher, whom we shall call Miguel. The teacher’s conceptions of the nature of science and of learning and teaching science were analyzed and compared with his classroom practice when teaching science lessons. The data gathering procedures were interviews analyzed by means of cognitive maps and classroom observations. The results reflected Miguel’s relativist conceptions of the nature of science that were consistent with his constructivist orientation in learning and teaching. In the classroom, however, he followed a strategy of transmission of external knowledge based exclusively on teacher explanations, the students being regarded as mere passive receptors of that knowledge. Miguel’s classroom behavior was completely contrary to his conceptions, which were to reinforce the students’ alternative ideas through debate, and not by means of teacher explanation.