The Nature of Scientific Explanation

Examining the perceptions of the nature, quality, and “goodness” of explanation among college students, science teachers, and scientists

Bibliographic Data

ID21353688
AuthorsSahar Alameh (0000-0001-7478-8791, Department of STEM Education, College of Education University of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky USA, corresponding author), Fouad Abd‐el‐khalick (0000-0002-0813-0374, School of Education University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill North Carolina USA), David E Brown (0000-0003-3913-0825, Emeritus College of Education University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Champaign Illinois USA)
Year2023
Volume60
Issue1
Pages100-135
Publication date2023-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Research in Science Teaching (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-4308 • E-ISSN: 1098-2736
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/tea.21792
OpenAlexW4285590642
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited64

Issues regarding scientific explanation have been of interest to philosophers from Pre‐Socratic times. The notion of scientific explanation is of interest not only to philosophers, but also to science educators as is clearly evident in the emphasis given to K‐12 students' construction of explanations in current national science education reform efforts. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of research on conceptualizing explanation in science education. Using a philosophically guided framework—the Nature of Scientific Explanation (NOSE) framework—the study aims to elucidate and compare college freshmen science students', secondary science teachers', and practicing scientists' scientific explanations and their views of scientific explanations. In particular, this study aims to: (1) analyze students', teachers', and scientists' scientific explanations; (2) explore the nuances about how freshman students, science teachers, and practicing scientists construct explanations; and (3) elucidate the criteria that participants use in analyzing scientific explanations. In two separate interviews, participants first constructed explanations of everyday scientific phenomena and then provided feedback on the explanations constructed by other participants. Major findings showed that, when analyzed using NOSE framework, participant scientists did significantly “better” than teachers and students. Our analysis revealed that scientists, teachers, and students share a lot of similarities in how they construct their explanations in science. However, they differ in some key dimensions. The present study highlighted the need articulated by many researchers in science education to understand additional aspects specific to scientific explanation. The present findings provide an initial analytical framework for examining students' and science teachers' scientific explanations

Construct (python library) · Epistemology · Mathematics education · Nature of Science · Perception · Quality (philosophy) · Science education · Scientific Literacy · Scientific misconceptions · Social science · Sociology · Sociology of scientific knowledge · Computer Science · Education and Critical Thinking Development · Educational Strategies and Epistemologies · Psychology · Science Education and Pedagogy

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