Journal article
Teachers' perceptions of Brandon's Matrix as a framework for the teaching and assessment of scientific methods in school science
- Abstract:
- This article utilizes a framework for classifying different scientific methods suggested by a philosopher of science (Brandon Synthese, 99, 59–73, 1994) called Brandon’s Matrix. It presents findings from teachers who took part in a funded project in England that looked at the nature of scientific methods in science investigations. Science investigations are an integral aspect of science education and, as such, are often included in high stakes examinations. Therefore, teachers need to have a good understanding of a range of scientific methods and their purposes in science investigations. The framework was used to ask teachers to classify science investigations based on how they teach them. It was also employed to devise assessments to measure students’ understanding of scientific methods. The teachers were introduced to the new approaches and their perceptions were gathered to understand if they supported this as a framework for their classroom practice. Evidence from the study suggested that Brandon’s Matrix appealed to teachers as a framework for practical science in schools, and they see potential benefits for its use in the teaching, learning, and assessment of science. Findings from the study showed it appealed to the teachers as a tool for classifying scientific methods, and how they also recognized the importance of assessing practical work and had an appreciation of the constraints and drivers in the current curriculum and assessment requirements in England. Implications for teachers’ professional development are discussed.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 665.2KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1007/s11165-022-10044-y
Authors
- Publisher:
- Springer Nature
- Journal:
- Research in Science Education More from this journal
- Volume:
- 53
- Issue:
- 1
- Pages:
- 193–212
- Publication date:
- 2022-03-26
- Acceptance date:
- 2022-01-16
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1573-1898
- ISSN:
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0157-244X
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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1249371
- Local pid:
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pubs:1249371
- Deposit date:
-
2022-07-21
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Cullinane et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2022
- Rights statement:
- ©2022 The Author(s). Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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