The foundations of the nature of science as a tool for teaching and learning scientific concepts

Using the Nature of Science (NoS) as a tool for teaching and learning science involves integrating the understanding of how science works into the curriculum. This approach helps students not only to construct scientific facts but also appreciate the process, methods, and values that underlie scientific knowledge. Questions about NoS have long preoccupied scientists, but recently, researchers in didactics, curriculum designers and science teachers are concerned how NoS can improve the teaching and learning of scientific concepts. While some authors have argued that science students be taught about the Nature of Science to develop their competences in science, others believe that science education should focus much more on constructing theoretical than functional knowledge. We believe that for learners to significantly improve their learning of scientific concepts, they need to understand the process of scientific thought, the Nature of Science. Thus we propose the fundamental concepts of NoS be used as a tool for knowledge constructions in the design of teaching and learning activities.