Two perspectives, one goal : Integrating empirical considerations of Epistemic Beliefs and Nature of Science to assess students’ views about science

While understanding of students’ views about science is a common goal of research on Epistemic Beliefs (EBs) and nature of science (NOS), both fields are widely separated. In an integrative effort, this thesis comprises two lines of empirical research and a theoretical approach to restructure the field of epistemic aspects in science education. An innovative and inclusive two-dimensional framework is proposed that offers a distinction of research with regard to two continua. The continua unfold between the poles of a collective and individual view and the contexts of professional and school science. The first empirical focus lies on assessing students’ EBs related to professional and school science. The instrument by Conley et al. (2004) was adapted to provide two analogous item sets . In a study with N = 405 secondary school students from grade levels 6, 8 and 10, findings support the distinction between EBs related to professional and school science and generally revealed higher agreement with scales related to professional science as well as higher agreement in higher grade levels. The second empirical focus lies on assessing students’ understandings about the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI). Using German versions of the Views about Scientific Inquiry questionnaire (VASI; J. S. Lederman et al., 2014), qualitative data were collected in grade levels 4, 7, 12 and from pre-service teachers with a total of N = 307 participants. The results showed that higher educational levels were associated with more sophisticated NOSI understanding. However, participants’ naïve reasoning also suggested that often researchers’ objectivity is overestimated and aspects of subjectivity are underestimated. Finally, implications for science teaching practice, teacher education, professional development, and science education research targeting different levels of the German educational system are discussed.

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