Introduction

Recognizing that methods vary among science disciplines compels us teachers to abandon the often-used phrase "the scientific method." That phrase is now commonly replaced with "methods of science," a subtle, but semantically important distinction. Specifically, "methods of science" underscores the variety of process skills available to scientists, and it implies that some methods are more appropriate than others, depending on the research problem or question. Thus, as teachers we are obligated to help students acquire accurate conceptions of the methods of science, which are a reflection of the nature of science (NOS). That is, science is characterized by the unique methods applied to explore the natural world. Not all methods available to a scientist are used in every science investigation.

If the methods vary with the discipline, can we be expected to know what all of them are and how best to teach them all? And let’s not forget our responsibilities in facilitating student conceptual understanding of the nature of science (NOS). When do you address this topic with your students? At the beginning of the school year, sometime later, or intermittently across the school year? How do you address it? Do you conduct a pre-assessment to see what students know? What do you include in that pre-assessment?

We take science teaching seriously because we believe knowledge of NOS science and methods increases one’s quality of life and enables positive contributions to society. But the reality is most of us teaching middle school science are not trained scientists with extensive experience in doing science. So how do we fulfill our obligation to help students acquire an accurate understanding? Resources, resources, resources!

One of the problems in teaching the old “scientific method” was that it was often divorced from the content and taught as an isolated unit of science, commonly presented as a series of tangible, discrete steps. While students were frequently successful in reciting in order the steps and their definitions, they lacked any deep conceptual understanding since they rarely had the opportunity to use the method to do real science. Thus, an integrated approach is a more effective approach. By that, we mean integration of methods of science with discussion of the nature of science and with opportunity to practice science process skills through inquiry methods of instruction and learning.

The key to success is integration. For example, an activity conducted midway through the school year focused on the concept of air pressure as related to weather should also be exploited for its potential (a) in making explicit particular methods of science used in investigations of air pressure and meteorology, (b) in reinforcing NOS, and (c) for the opportunity it gives students to practice sciences process skills such as asking questions, making observations, interpreting data, and using the empirical evidence to construct logical inferences, predictions, and explanations.

A mental model for integrating these three areas follows. Try envisioning a grid or matrix of the elements of the NOS by science process skills. These column and row headings intersect at the science activity students engage in, where they practice and simulate science process skills. For example, one element of the NOS is its reliance on empirical evidence. One science process skill is the ability to observe and record data, collecting empirical evidence. These two ideas intersect when students engage in an inquiry activity focused on questions such as what’s the easiest way to move a 40 kg flat screen TV up the stairs into your carpeted bedroom? Assume you are alone and not capable of carrying it for fear of dropping it. Students will need to design an apparatus and test models of their apparatus for how much they reduce the force needed. They will need to keep careful records to support their conclusions. Thus, they conduct inquiry as scientists do, all the while reinforcing the nature of science and developing their process skills.

Resources provided in this Middle School Portal publication will help you gain additional understanding of these three topics: methods of science, the NOS, and science proficiency. In Background Information for Teachers, we give you access to publications designed by professional organizations specifically for teachers looking to increase their teaching effectiveness in these three areas. We also provide a section of Lessons and Activities you can do with your students to help them develop in these three areas.

In the final section, we identify content standards in the National Science Education Standards aligned with concepts in this publication.

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by Mary LeFever

Mary LeFever is a resource specialist for the Middle School Portal, and a doctoral candidate in science education at Ohio State University. She has taught middle school and high school science and is an adjunct instructor of biology and natural sciences at Columbus State Community College. Please email any comments to msp@msteacher.org

There’s More! You’ll know when new science publications are posted on NSDL Middle School Portal by requesting free email notices at http://msteacher.org/registration.aspx. Don’t forget to browse the Science Pathway every once in a while to find a wealth of resources for your teaching.

Blog with Us. Every week, we connect what’s making the news to the national science content standards…so you can too! Read and share your ideas on our blog Connecting the News to National Science Education Standards at http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/connectingnews/.

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Copyright June 2008 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.