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Epistemological Conceptions of University Teachers and Students of Science

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Teaching Science with Context

Part of the book series: Science: Philosophy, History and Education ((SPHE))

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Abstract

This work presents an empirical study comparing NOS conceptions of undergraduate students and teachers of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the National University of Mar del Plata, Argentina. Using an ex post facto design, the study was carried out in two stages: one aimed at describing the conceptions each group has, and another targeting their comparison. The results obtained from both groups at the descriptive stage show a tendency toward relativist conceptions about the nature of knowledge and more intellectual ones about the acquisition of knowledge. The comparative study revealed that students’ conceptions on the “acquisition of knowledge” differ from those of their university teachers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Revisions such as in: (Koulaidis and Ogborn 1995; Abd-El-Khalic and Lederman 2000; Hofer and Pintrich 2001; Scrhaw and Olafson 2002; Audi 2003; Schraw 2010; Lederman and Abbel 2014).

  2. 2.

    As in: (Hessen 1973; Koulaidis and Ogborn 1989; Porlán 1994; Porlán et al. 1998; Aldridge et al. 1997; Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman 2000; Sander et al. 2000; Pecharromán and Pozo 2006).

  3. 3.

    “The basic presupposition is that, in any culture or person, there is no single homogeneous way of thinking but different types of verbal thinking. I have tried to characterize this heterogeneity of verbal thinking in terms of a conceptual profile that recognizes the coexistence, in an individual, of two or more meanings for a single word or concept, which are correctly used in different contexts. This coexistence is also possible for a scientific concept in which the classical and modern visions of the same phenomenon are not always comparable” (Mortimer 2001, p. 488).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Education Department, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    María B. García, Silvia Vilanova & Sofía Sol Martín

Authors
  1. María B. García
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  2. Silvia Vilanova
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  3. Sofía Sol Martín
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to María B. García .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Maria Elice de Brzezinski Prestes

  2. Institute of Physics of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

    Cibelle Celestino Silva

Appendix

Appendix

Some examples of dilemmas to examine implicit conceptions of scientific knowledge (To see the complete instrument, consult García and Mateos, 2013 or García et al. (accepted for publication).

Below are situations and answers/comments made by teachers.

For each scenario, mark the one you agree with:

1.1 Dilemma 6-A (Translated from Spanish)

Below is a dialogue between people who are discussing about whether the theory of evolution is scientific. Which person better reflects your ideas?

  • Esteban: I believe that the theory of evolution is not scientific. It explains too much and it is difficult to test. Darwinism describes singular events, something that is not repeatable and is, thus, not available for experiments. It cannot be scientific. (Position I)

  • Carlos: Following your criteria, it would be impossible to prove that the world existed yesterday. Even though experimentation is a fundamental starting point, theories are obtained from a process that goes beyond data. Besides, what is important and what makes it truly scientific is its predictive power. For example: if a hypothesis that polar bears with thicker fur survive the icy Arctic winter is formulated, the hypothesis can be contrasted and it can be stated if theory can or cannot explain reality. (Position II)

  • Pedro: I agree with Carlos in that what makes a theory scientific is, as regards Darwin’s theory of evolution, its predictive power; but I do not agree in that experimentation is the starting point. I think that Darwin already had a theory in mind when he started to experiment. Any kind of knowledge stems from reason and then comes the experimentation. (Position III)

  1. (a)

    Esteban

  2. (b)

    Carlos

  3. (c)

    Pedro

1.2 Dilemma 8

The image presented in Fig. 1 corresponds to a piece of graphite (a substance made of carbon atoms) seen through a scanning tunneling microscope with a 1×10-to 12-m resolution (approximately the size of an atom). Look at the picture: what do you see?

Fig. 1
figure 3

Picture of a piece of graphite seen through a scanning tunneling microscope

Full size image
  1. (a)

    It can only be said that it is the picture of a piece of graphite obtained through a microscope. I would not assert that atoms can be seen. This would be a personal interpretation influenced by the wording of this dilemma. (Position III)

  2. (b)

    If the picture is interpreted from a quantum theory stance, carbon atoms that make up the structure of graphite – as described by science – are observed. (Position II)

  3. (c)

    The empirical confirmation of carbon atoms arranged for graphite as science states. (Position I)

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García, M.B., Vilanova, S., Martín, S.S. (2018). Epistemological Conceptions of University Teachers and Students of Science. In: Prestes, M., Silva, C. (eds) Teaching Science with Context. Science: Philosophy, History and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74036-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74036-2_6

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