A concept cartoon is a resource used as a focus for small group or class discussion that presents several people offering different explanations of some natural phenomenon. Concept cartoons are used both in research and teaching and can be seen as diagnostic assessment instruments.
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natural theology
A tradition where the natural world is studied (at least in part) as a kind of religious observance. Sometimes it was suggested that God had provided two books to be read, the word revealed in scripture and his works to be read in nature.
citation index
Citation index refers to a statistic that shows the degree to which papers published in a specific journal are (on averaged) cited. (Predatory journals may quote inaccurate citation indices to give a false impression of their status in a field.)
POGIL
'Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning' – a form of enquiry-based science education (inquiry-based science education)
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enquiry-based science education
a pedagogy based around providing learners with authentic enquiry activities
Read about enquiry-based science education
blended learning
Blended learning is the mode of teaching/learning on a course provided by a combination of face-to-face teaching and on-line components.
dialogic teaching
Dialogic teaching engages different voices and opinions rather than only presenting an authoritative account.
constructionism
a pedagogical approach where learning is organised through groups working on the 'construction' of some product (which could be a website or a video, a model, a theory, etc.) – often seen as a variant of constructivism
theory-ladenness of observation
A nïave view is that we see (or hear or feel…) what is out there in the world, but much research shows that what we perceive is an interpretation of sensory information (as is seen in optical illusions). In science, as in other contexts, observation is biased by the frame of reference being used to think about the observation – the assumptions that are taken-for-granted by the observer. Such bias may distort interpretations of data. An observer who thinks that a pendulum swings through an arc at a constant rate will likely 'see' just that. Observation is said to be 'theory-laden'.
rhetoric of conclusions
It has been argued that there is a tendency for science text books to present canonical scientific ideas as clearly following for the available evidence including critical/crucil tests, and so being evicently superior to the ideas they replaced or competed with. This usually simplifies the process of scientific progress and ignores how the evidence available may have appeared from within the contemporary context. The 'rhetoric of conclusions' then is a kind scientific 'whig history' – a history of science written from the persepctive of the 'winners'.
the nature of science
the term the nature of science (sometimes, NOS) refers to features that are considered to be common across the natural sciences related to fundamental commitments (metaphysical commitments, such as the existence of an objective world), and methodological principles, and community practices (for example, relating to the reporting of work). There is much scholarly debate about NOS, but there are widely agreed to be certain commonalities at a general level suitable for representing in science education
pseudoexplanations
pseudoexplanations are statements given as explanations but lacking any substantive explanatory content