an innovative approach

evidence. The students thought that scientific inquiry was a process of making
observations. The explanation was connection between a cause and an outcome of an
observation or an event. The students also thought that science work was an
individual study – no process of checking or challenging within the scientific
community. Some scientific conflicts came from their lack of sufficient data or
personal bias. Scientists’ society had a reduced influence on decisions about
developing science.
From the studies of Moss, Abrams and Robb (2001) and Bell et al. (2003),
also it was found that American students did not understand the key aspects of the
nature of science. In a semi rural public school located in the northeast, Moss et al.
used semi-structured interviews to investigate the understanding of five Grade 11 and
12 students. The findings indicated that the students fully understood the nature of
scientific knowledge, but rarely understood the nature of scientific enterprise. Bell et
al. used semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire to examine the understanding
and scientific inquiry of ten Grade 10 and Grade 11 students in a science and
engineering apprenticeship program at Northwest University. The results illustrated
that the students understood the key aspects in different was from the current science
curriculum reform. These two studies also noted a problem of retaining the
misunderstanding even after the course was over. In this case Bell et al. noted that
students may have some belief and epistemology interrupting their understanding.
Moss et al. thought that it might come from the lack of study of the nature of science.
In addition, Smith and Anderson’s (1984) study, argued that teachers’ beliefs about
the nature of science was an important factor influencing students’ understanding of
scientific knowledge, especially concerning photosynthesis. Therefore, overcoming
misconception about the nature of science should be considered as a main aim of
teaching science (Moss, Abrams and Robb, 2001; Bell et al., 2003).
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