JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 29, NO. 4, P. 325 (1992) Editor’s Note This special issue of JRST on teaching about the nature of science is the third in a series of five special issues edited by JRST Associate Editors and their colleagues. It follows the special issue on concept mapping edited by Joe Novak and Jim Wandersee (JRST, Volume 27, Issue 10, December 1990) and the special issue on students’ models and epistemologies of science edited by Marcia Linn, Nancy Songer, and Eileen Lewis (JRST, Volume 28, Issue 9, November 1991). “Teaching About the History and Nature of Scienceand Technology: An Introduction” is closely related to the special issue edited by Linn, Songer, and Lewis. Both special issues look at students’ and teachers’ ideas about the nature of science. With the help of Michael Matthews, Brian McAndrews, and Skip Hills, this special issue of JRST is part of the Second International History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching Conference held at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, May 11-15, 1992. Recognizing the importance of students’ and teachers’ ideas about the nature of science results in a broadened research agenda for science education researchers. Research on students’ conceptions of force and motion, heat and temperature, evolution of life forms, and so on have helped science educators understand the difficulty of achieving conceptual change by students in classroom instruction. We now understand much better than we did 20 years ago how complex and difficult it is to help students really make sense of the stuff we call concepts in biology and chemistry and geology and physics and so on. However, scientific literacy h la Science For All Americans includes more than accurate science concepts of force and motion and heat and temperature and so on; it also includes reasonable ideas about the history and nature of science. With this special issue of JRST, Rodger Bybee, James Ellis, Michael Matthews, and the contributing authors help us better understand this broadened view of science education and how we might go about studying some of the issues involved. The central focus of research in science education should continue to be how curriculum and instruction affect science learning. However, we must be more sensitive to the broader issues of students’ models and epistemologies of science. This special issue of JRST and the preceding special issue edited by Linn, Songer, and Lewis should help all of us reflect on our research agendas. I appreciate the efforts of Rodger Bybee, James Ellis, Michael Matthews, and the JRST staff at LSU for the organization and production of this special issue. Mary Prevosti, Janice Tully, and the Wiley editorial staff did a fine job of producing this issue in time for the History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching Conference at Queen’s University. As always, I welcome your comments about this issue or other matters related to JRST. Ron Good Editor ccc 0022-4308/92/040325-01$04.00 8 1992 by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 29, NO. 4, P. 325 (1992)

Editor’s Note

This special issue of JRST on teaching about the nature of science is the third in a series of five special issues edited by JRST Associate Editors and their colleagues. It follows the special issue on concept mapping edited by Joe Novak and Jim Wandersee (JRST, Volume 27, Issue 10, December 1990) and the special issue on students’ models and epistemologies of science edited by Marcia Linn, Nancy Songer, and Eileen Lewis (JRST, Volume 28, Issue 9, November 1991).

“Teaching About the History and Nature of Science and Technology: An Introduction” is closely related to the special issue edited by Linn, Songer, and Lewis. Both special issues look at students’ and teachers’ ideas about the nature of science. With the help of Michael Matthews, Brian McAndrews, and Skip Hills, this special issue of JRST is part of the Second International History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching Conference held at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, May 11-15, 1992.

Recognizing the importance of students’ and teachers’ ideas about the nature of science results in a broadened research agenda for science education researchers. Research on students’ conceptions of force and motion, heat and temperature, evolution of life forms, and so on have helped science educators understand the difficulty of achieving conceptual change by students in classroom instruction. We now understand much better than we did 20 years ago how complex and difficult it is to help students really make sense of the stuff we call concepts in biology and chemistry and geology and physics and so on. However, scientific literacy h la Science For All Americans includes more than accurate science concepts of force and motion and heat and temperature and so on; it also includes reasonable ideas about the history and nature of science. With this special issue of JRST, Rodger Bybee, James Ellis, Michael Matthews, and the contributing authors help us better understand this broadened view of science education and how we might go about studying some of the issues involved.

The central focus of research in science education should continue to be how curriculum and instruction affect science learning. However, we must be more sensitive to the broader issues of students’ models and epistemologies of science. This special issue of JRST and the preceding special issue edited by Linn, Songer, and Lewis should help all of us reflect on our research agendas.

I appreciate the efforts of Rodger Bybee, James Ellis, Michael Matthews, and the JRST staff at LSU for the organization and production of this special issue. Mary Prevosti, Janice Tully, and the Wiley editorial staff did a fine job of producing this issue in time for the History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching Conference at Queen’s University. As always, I welcome your comments about this issue or other matters related to JRST.

Ron Good Editor

ccc 0022-4308/92/040325-01$04.00 8 1992 by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.