An empirical evaluation of students' perceptions of the nature of science : a comparison between groups

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dc.contributor.advisorRochford, Kevinen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorEdwards, Nazeemen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-11-18T18:27:01Z
dc.date.available2014-11-18T18:27:01Z
dc.date.issued1999en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn 1991 Evans and Schibeci used a modified Views of Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS) instrument to assess 434 Australian students' views on selected aspects of the Science-Technology-Society (STS) theme. In South Africa , Parker and Rochford (1995), and the writer Edwards et al. (1997) conducted and published further corroborative studies with more than 1400 students. Set in the context of the debate on the "traditional" and "contemporary" models of the nature of science (after Palmquist and Finley, 1997), this study measures, compares and interprets the response patterns of five convenient sample groups to 26 items on the modified VOSTS instrument. The three subscales measure students' perceptions of the definition of science, scientific method and how scientific knowledge changes. The reliability of the instrument was computed for Cape Town students using Cronbach's coefficient which yielded α = 0.78; and its content had been shown to be inherently valid at the time it was developed. A self-completion questionnaire was administered by the writer to four Cape Town student samples in 1995 during normal periods of instruction at two high schools, a technikon and a college of education. The samples comprised 320 year 10 high school science students, 340 year 12 high school science students, 108 electrical engineering students, and 55 first year college of education science students respectively. The 434 year 10 Australian students' (sample 5) responses were compared with the responses of their South African counterparts. In order to determine statistically significant differences between the response frequencies of the sample groups on the 26 items, the χ² - test statistic was used.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationEdwards, N. (1999). <i>An empirical evaluation of students' perceptions of the nature of science : a comparison between groups</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9715en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationEdwards, Nazeem. <i>"An empirical evaluation of students' perceptions of the nature of science : a comparison between groups."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9715en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationEdwards, N. 1999. An empirical evaluation of students' perceptions of the nature of science : a comparison between groups. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Edwards, Nazeem AB - In 1991 Evans and Schibeci used a modified Views of Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS) instrument to assess 434 Australian students' views on selected aspects of the Science-Technology-Society (STS) theme. In South Africa , Parker and Rochford (1995), and the writer Edwards et al. (1997) conducted and published further corroborative studies with more than 1400 students. Set in the context of the debate on the "traditional" and "contemporary" models of the nature of science (after Palmquist and Finley, 1997), this study measures, compares and interprets the response patterns of five convenient sample groups to 26 items on the modified VOSTS instrument. The three subscales measure students' perceptions of the definition of science, scientific method and how scientific knowledge changes. The reliability of the instrument was computed for Cape Town students using Cronbach's coefficient which yielded α = 0.78; and its content had been shown to be inherently valid at the time it was developed. A self-completion questionnaire was administered by the writer to four Cape Town student samples in 1995 during normal periods of instruction at two high schools, a technikon and a college of education. The samples comprised 320 year 10 high school science students, 340 year 12 high school science students, 108 electrical engineering students, and 55 first year college of education science students respectively. The 434 year 10 Australian students' (sample 5) responses were compared with the responses of their South African counterparts. In order to determine statistically significant differences between the response frequencies of the sample groups on the 26 items, the χ² - test statistic was used. DA - 1999 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1999 T1 - An empirical evaluation of students' perceptions of the nature of science : a comparison between groups TI - An empirical evaluation of students' perceptions of the nature of science : a comparison between groups UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9715 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/9715
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationEdwards N. An empirical evaluation of students' perceptions of the nature of science : a comparison between groups. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 1999 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9715en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Educationen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherEducationen_ZA
dc.titleAn empirical evaluation of students' perceptions of the nature of science : a comparison between groupsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMEden_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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