What is a teacher to do when confronted with a student who says “I understand that theory
(eg, evolution), but I don't believe it”? The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for …

American science education has faltered, from just about everyone's perspective. American
students rank near or at the bottom in international surveys of science achievement. Science …

Epistemological questions about the nature of knowledge and belief underlie many of the
controversial issues fundamental to research and practice in science teaching and learning …

If the goals of science education reform are to be realized, science instruction must change
across the academic spectrum, including at the collegiate level. This study examines the …

In this paper, we examine the goals and methods of science education from the standpoint
of recent trends in the philosophy of science. Specifically, we consider the implications for …

Elementary students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge—epistemological beliefs—are
an emerging concern for science education and research. Composed of a critique of …

Science educators have been interested in developing people's understanding of the
epistemology of science for a long time. Despite decades of research on students' ideas …

Argues that the failure of modern courses to achieve their declared goals in relation to
children's understanding of science has two causes, namely teachers views about the …

New views of proficiency in K‐8 science that highlight the importance of engaging children
in the discourses and practices of science have raised the stakes for elementary teachers …

In this paper, we contend that what to teach about scientific reasoning has been bedeviled
by a lack of clarity about the construct. Drawing on the insights emerging from a cognitive …