Scientific Perspectivism in Secondary-School Chemistry Education
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Scientific Perspectivism in Secondary-School Chemistry Education Integrating Concepts and Skills in Chemical Thinking Ilse Landa 1 & Hanna Westbroek 1 Martijn Meeter 1
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& Fred Janssen & Jacqueline van Muijlwijk &
# The Author(s) 2020
Abstract
The importance of learning chemical ways of thinking is widely recognized. Various frameworks have been developed to address the essence of chemistry and chemical thinking. However, very few studies have focused on how chemical ways of thinking can be defined. To elaborate chemical ways of thinking, this paper draws on scientific perspectivism (Giere 2010; Wimsatt 2007; Thagard 2012). Scientific perspectivism states that, within each general domain, several broadly accepted theoretical models exist side by side. These general theoretical models, or theoretical perspectives, determine which research questions are generated, which types of models are developed, and which criteria are important for evaluating models. A theoretical perspective can be captured in a core reasoning that embodies the fundamental relationship between model and the “real world.” Starting with their most basic form, perspectives can be used in learning how to reason about all types of ill-structured problems, directing and organizing knowledge development, and integrating knowledge and skills. The study is part of a research project on how perspectivism can be applied to the design of secondary-school chemistry education. This particular study concerns the identification, elaboration, and validation of four chemical perspectives for secondary-school chemistry education. We use these perspectives to indicate the consequences of taking a perspectivism approach to a curriculum framework. We conclude with discussing the consequences for secondary chemistry curriculum.
1 Introduction In oder to help students address ill-defined authentic problems, international reforms in chemistry education increasingly emphasize the importance of learning chemical ways of
* Hanna Westbroek [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
I. Landa et al.
thinking (NRC 2013; Sevian and Talanquer 2014; Van Berkel et al. 2000). Dominant teaching approaches in chemistry education do not sufficiently prepare students for this, as they are mostly centered around explaining and applying concepts instead of chemical questions that form the starting point for thinking processes (Sevian and Talanquer 2014). When a phenomenon is being investigated, chemical ways of thinking that represent the discipline, are thinking tools that define the problem space, the types of questions that are relevant, which types of answers are possible, and how these might apply specifically to the phenomenon at hand (Callebaut 2012). Developing chemical ways of thinking contributes to insight in the nature of chemistry, its power and limitations. For example, a chemistry student who does not know how the differences between diamond and graphite (which both consist of carbon) can be explained, but who ha
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