New Perspectives in Science Education

Epistemology (science as a way of thinking) along with sociology (intrinsic beliefs and values to scientific knowledge and its development) of science are mentioned as nature of science (NOS) [1]. Based on science disciplines’ similarities and differences, NOS is conceptualized as both domain-general and domain-specific [2]. Hence, it is interesting to investigate students' views of NOS integrating the perspective of domain-specificity. Taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of NOS assessment tools [3], an adaptation of Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire – Form C for implementation both to a specific discipline context (chemistry) and a different cultural context (Greek students) resulted in an instrument that included seven open-ended questions. The instrument was used to investigate 24 Greek high school (11^th Grade, 16-17 years) students' views of NOS. A qualitative analysis partially following the VAScoR rubric was carried out [4]. The results obtained indicate that the participants' views of NOS are “mixed”, as they characterized as partially informed with respect scientific methods and nature of scientific theories and naïve with respect to social and cultural embeddedness. Also, most students express partially informed or naïve views regarding tentative aspect of NOS depending on the question posed. The research findings are critically discussed and their implications for chemistry education are presented.