Learning the Nature of Science in a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Chemistry Laboratory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46328/ijemst.5047Keywords:
CURES, NOS, VNOSAbstract
A quantitative study was conducted to investigate the influence of a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) chemistry laboratory on students’ understanding of the nature of science (NOS) at a Northwest liberal arts college. The CUREs activities were interspersed with NOS activities throughout the semester. The Views of nature of science (VNOS D+), an open-ended NOS questionnaire, was used and rated to provide quantitative data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to interpret the data. The results indicated that the majority of students changed their views of the nature of science from mostly naïve and transitional to informed views. Inferential statistics were done using paired sample t-tests. Significant improvements were observed on the whole instrument and individual items. Cohen’s d effect size indicated that these changes had practical implications in education settings. These results inform the need for authentic environments for undergraduate students in chemistry and an explicit approach to teaching NOS.
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