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Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice
written by
Irene Y. Salter and Leslie Atkins Elliott
There is debate in the science education literature about how best to improve students' understanding of the nature of science: Can an "immersion" experience in the process of doing science like scientists outperform explicit instruction on the nature of science? Central in resolving that debate is the development of appropriate measures of students' understanding of the nature of science. We report on a course in which students engaged in sophisticated scientific practices, and yet student responses to a standard nature of science survey showed surprisingly few pre-post changes. We argue that this data suggests that when students do science like scientists do, they gain a grasp of scientific practice that cannot be measured by declarative means such as surveys and interviews.
Physics Education Research Conference 2012
Part of the PER Conference series Philadelphia, PA: August 1-2, 2012 Volume 1513, Pages 362-365
Don't Blame the "Surveys"
Author: Joel Mintzes Salter and Atkins found that their course on "Student-Generated Scientific Inquiry" failed to have any measurable effect on students' understanding of the nature of science (NOS) as revealed in the widely used instruments developed by Lederman et al [VNOS]. From this they go on to conclude that their course is just fine; it's just that it teaches "procedural" knowledge (ie. how to swing a golf club) rather than declarative knowledge (ie. the rules of the game).
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![]() <a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=12853">Salter, Irene, and Leslie Atkins Elliott. "Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA, August 1-2, 2012.</a>
![]() I. Salter and L. Atkins Elliott, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA, 2012, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12853&DocID=3385).
![]() I. Salter and L. Atkins Elliott, Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA, 2012, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12853&DocID=3385>.
![]() Salter, I., & Atkins Elliott, L. (2012, August 1-2). Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved April 29, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12853&DocID=3385
![]() Salter, Irene, and Leslie Atkins Elliott. "Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2012, Philadelphia, PA, August 1-2, 2012. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12853&DocID=3385 (accessed 29 April 2025).
![]() Salter, Irene, and Leslie Atkins Elliott. "Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice." Physics Education Research Conference 2012. Philadelphia, PA: 2012. 362-365 Vol. 1513 of PER Conference. 29 Apr. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12853&DocID=3385>.
![]() @inproceedings{
Author = "Irene Salter and Leslie Atkins Elliott",
Title = {Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice},
BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2012},
Pages = {362-365},
Address = {Philadelphia, PA},
Series = {PER Conference},
Volume = {1513},
Month = {August 1-2},
Year = {2012}
}
![]() %A Irene Salter %A Leslie Atkins Elliott %T Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice %S PER Conference %V 1513 %D August 1-2 2012 %P 362-365 %C Philadelphia, PA %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12853&DocID=3385 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2012 %O August 1-2 %O application/pdf ![]() %0 Conference Proceedings %A Salter, Irene %A Atkins Elliott, Leslie %D August 1-2 2012 %T Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice %B Physics Education Research Conference 2012 %C Philadelphia, PA %V 1513 %P 362-365 %S PER Conference %8 August 1-2 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=12853&DocID=3385 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
Citation Source Information
The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual. The AJP/PRST-PER presented is based on the AIP Style with the addition of journal article titles and conference proceeding article titles. The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References. The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation. The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ. Surveys fail to measure grasp of scientific practice:Know of another related resource? Login to relate this resource to it. |
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