Study on View of Science in Chiodren, School, and Society

1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 07044008
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for international Scientific Research
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: Joint Research
• Research Field: Science education
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: TAKEMURA Shigekazu Hiroshima University, Department of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (70112159)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): OGURA Yasushi National Institute for Educational Research, Research Center for Science Educati, 科学教育研究センター, 研究員 (50224192) ; MATSUBARA Michio Kanazawa University, Department of Education, Associate Professor, 教育学部, 助教授 (80199843) ; NAKAYAMA Hayashi Miyazaki University, Department of Education, Associate Professor, 教育学部, 助教授 (90237470) ; YOSHIDA Atsushi Aichi University of Education, Department of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (90115668) ; MANZANO V.U. Hiroshima University, Department of Education, Associate Professor, 教育学部・, 助教授 (80208719)
• Project Period (FY): 1995 – 1997
• Keywords: View of Science / View of Nature / Attitude and Activity in Science / Science Educational Culture / Relativism

Research Abstract

In this research, a survery instrument the children's view of science has been developed. This instrument involves four parts, namely, view of science, view of nature, interest in science and activities. The survey was conducted in six countries, China, Philippines, Thailand, Australia, USA and Japan as affected by each country's science educational culture. The rsults from the five countries were compared with that of Japan.
Results show that the postmodern relative scientific view in America and Australia could not be classified as western ideology. On the other hand, the view of children from Thailand, Philippines, China and Japan could be considered as relative scientific view. With regards to view of nature, the non-western and western countries greatly differ. Also with regards to activities and interests in science, differences due to gender are evident for the six countries. Although these results are limited to the samples, they can be considered important findings in this field of research.
The results of this research has also been presented in various conferences in Australia and America. And, the research members from the other countries have made use of the findings to help improve the conditions of educations in their respective countries. The western countries have their own view of science which are different from the current relative view of non-western countries. The modern view of science of the non-western countries supports the idea that the scientific world deals with concepts which are varied and tentative. In addition, there is a need to reconsider from the non-western view in science learning and curriculum development.