Nature of Science

1
Nature of Science
2
NOS Card Exchange

• Step 1 Obtain 8 cards (that are different from
  one another).
• Step 2 Trade cards with classmates in order to
  amass a better collection of cards. (Your
  collection improves as the cards more accurately
  express your views on science.)

3

• Find a partner with similar views and select the
  8 best cards from the 16 that you have
  collectively. (Each of you must contribute at
  least 2 cards.)
• Make a group of 4 and select the 8 best cards.
• Using the remaining cards, write a statement
  which describes your groups notion of the Nature
  of Science.

4
VNOS(c)

• What in your view is science? What makes science
  different from other disciplines of inquiry?
• What is an experiment?
• Does the development of scientific knowledge
  require experiments?
• After scientists have developed a scientific
  theory, does the theory every change?
• Is there a difference between a scientific theory
  and a scientific law?

5

• How certain are you about the structure of an
  atom? What specific evidence do you think
  scientists used to determine what an atom looks
  like?
• How certain are scientists about their
  characterization of what a species is? What
  specific evidence do you think scientists used to
  determine what a species is?
• Does science reflect social and cultural values
  or is it universal?
• Do scientists employ creativity in their
  investigations? If so where and how?

6
What is the Nature of Science (NOS)?

• Science cannot be singularly (and definitively)
  defined because it is interpreted in different
  ways by different people.
• Methods such as the card sort and NOS surveys
  encourage students to think specifically about
  their views on science.
• Scientists, science educators philosophers of
  science have proposed some consensus views on
  NOS.
• Views on NOS describe how the scientific
  enterprise operates.

7
Consensus Views on NOS

• Empirically-based
• Scientific knowledge is based on evidence.
• Testable
• Scientific ideas can be theoretically falsified
  through evidentiary tests.
• Tentative, yet Reliable
• Scientific ideas can change given new data or new
  interpretations
• Developmental
• Scientific ideas are often built on earlier ideas.

8
Consensus NOS Views

• Creative
• Scientists employ creativity in posing questions,
  collecting data, and interpreting data. (What
  does this suggest about The Scientific Method?)
• Parsimonious
• Given multiple explanations, scientists tend to
  favor the simplest one that maintains predictive
  power.
• Unified
• Scientific ideas are consistent across different
  disciplines.

9
Consensus NOS Views

• Culturally-embedded
• Scientists scientific ideas are influenced by
  the society from they arise.
• Theory/Law Distinction
• Scientific theories are robust, empirically
  supported explanations of natural phenomena.
  Scientific laws are perceived regularities
  regarding the natural world. Therefore, theories
  never become laws. Laws are typically more narrow
  in focus than theories.