an innovative approach

5.3.1) Mrs. Amp’s Practices on Principle III
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Mrs. Amp perceived nature of science as a general knowledge for
everyday living. She also believed that lecturing and experimenting were the best
way of teaching. Her teaching appeared to illuminate the nature of science using
reading assignments and guided inquiry. The students were formally asked to read
and then complete all questions in the students’ booklets and brochures. Those
described the scientists’ historical discoveries of chloroplast and the light and dark
phases. There were no role play activity supported the illuminating. Also, the
students were guided to experiment pigments of chloroplast without prior discussion
about the experimental design and objectives. They, then, were asked to operate the
experiment by themselves outside teaching periods.
Following Mrs. Amp’s practices, the survey and the interviews
indicated that students did not fully understand about the nature of science.
5.3.2) Students’ Understanding about the Nature of Science
The survey indicated that students were ambiguous in
understanding the nature of science. Most of students perceived science as a social
complex society, but they believed that scientific knowledge did not change. Also,
they appeared to less regard on scientific processes and methods.
Thirty five percentages, a majority, did not gain the
understanding that scientific ideas were subjected to change. They believed that old
knowledge did not change. Because new scientists found out new knowledge, that
was more update and had never been known. So, scientific theories and laws
appeared to change by adding the new knowledge on to the old knowledge. Nineteen
percentages thought that the theories could be changed, but they thought that the laws
could not be changed. Twenty seven percentages, however, understood that scientific
knowledge changed because the old theories and laws were disproved and detected
error by new scientists.