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FRA Wheel: Representing science as a cognitive-epistemic, social-institutional and political system (reprinted with permission from Erduran and Dagher (2014, p. 28)
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... introduce this family resemblance approach (FRA) visually, they developed the family resemblance approach wheel that identifies science as a cognitive-epistemic and a social-institutional system at the same time. Both systems are subdivided into a number of categories that are not necessarily equally important in each science story (see Figure 1). Science as a cognitive-epistemic system refers to scientific aims and values, scientific knowledge, scientific practices, as well as scientific methods and methodological rules. ...
Context 2
... introduce this family resemblance approach (FRA) visually, they developed the family resemblance approach wheel that identifies science as a cognitive-epistemic and a social-institutional system at the same time. Both systems are subdivided into a number of categories that are not necessarily equally important in each science story (see Figure 1). Science as a cognitive-epistemic system refers to scientific aims and values, scientific knowledge, scientific practices, as well as scientific methods and methodological rules. ...
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Citations
... There is empirical evidence in support of contextualized teaching, but outcome studies are diverse in their approaches and often limited in generalizability due to small, non-random samples or other methodological constraints. Within these limitations, evidence suggests that contextualization enhances learner interest (Ayotte-Beaudet, Potvin, and Riopel 2019;Pugh et al. 2021), motivation (Karpudewan and Mohd Ali Khan 2017;Wang, Sun, and Wickersham 2017), engagement (King, Winner, and Ginns 2011;Pugh, Bergstrom, and Spencer 2017;Schmidt, Rosenberg, and Beymer 2017;Zhang et al. 2023), and understanding of science (Karisan and Zeidler 2016;Petersen et al. 2020). To achieve these ends, integration of context in instructional settings must align with learners' beliefs, experiences, and contextual factors to foster cognitive engagement and mitigate marginalization (Sánchez Tapia 2020). ...
The vast and rapidly growing amount of science education research makes it challenging for researchers to navigate and synthesize developments across the field, particularly concerning broad concepts evolving along divergent paths. To address this issue, a novel review methodology employing bibliometrics and network analysis was tested to identify and characterize clusters of research focused on the relationship between school‐based science learning and contexts where that science is applied, experienced, observable, or otherwise relevant (e.g., socio‐scientific inquiry, place‐based learning, culturally‐responsive pedagogy). Using a sample of 935 academic papers, the bibliometric network analysis revealed the landscape of contextualized science learning research, identifying 13 distinct clusters of scholarship. Bibliometric and qualitative data were used to describe the research trends within clusters and confirm they were conceptually meaningful and distinct. This methodology facilitated greater understanding of how research can become clustered into “invisible colleges” over time, offering a synthesis approach to grasp interrelated lines of research within an evolving landscape. The methodology has potential to identify other schools of thought or overarching themes in science education, enhancing researchers’ ability to perceive the field as a coherent landscape of interconnected ideas or to identify specific research trajectories within a broad concept.
... A recent special issue of the journal Science & Education (Barak, 2023) was dedicated to various aspects of FRA usage in science education, building on previous studies. For example, previous work in various countries included the integration of FRA in teacher education in Türkiye (Kaya et al., 2019) and teaching undergraduate students in Germany (Petersen et al., 2020). FRA has also been used as an analytical tool for examining STEM curricula in Spain (Couso and Simmaro, 2020) and science assessments in Hong Kong (Cheung, 2020). ...
In this article, we use the family resemblance approach as a framework to contribute to the debate about the similarities and differences between the constituent disciplines of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) and to explore the implications for education. The family resemblance approach has been used in science education in various ways, for instance, in teacher education and undergraduate teaching and as an analytical tool for examining science curricula and assessments. The relevant sense of application of the family resemblance approach for our purposes in this article is that it is a framework that has the potential to differentiate the disciplines underpinning STEAM. We explore the utility of the family resemblance approach for clarifying what is meant by the nature of STEAM and, subsequently, we elaborate on some practical examples drawn from a project conducted in Hong Kong with Year 7 (12–13-year-old) students to illustrate how the use of the family resemblance approach can help articulate a contrast of nature of science and the arts in school activities.
... Det har vaert lite forskning på elevers forståelse av NOS-perspektiver i Norge, hverken ved bruk av spørreskjema eller intervjuer. Videre har det meste av forskning på slike perspektiver vaert gjort i Asia og USA, der de i større grad enn i Norge har innlemmet NOS i laereplanene (Petersen et al., 2020). Denne artikkelen har nettopp til hensikt å undersøke norske ungdomsskoleelevers forståelse av NOS-perspektiver gjennom intervjuer. ...
Denne artikkelen presenterer en studie av seks elever (13–16 år) sin forståelse av naturvitenskapens egenart. Forståelse av naturvitenskapens egenart regnes å være sentralt for et individs evne til å ta informerte beslutninger og valg når det kommer til vitenskapsbaserte problemstillinger. Elevene deltok i en treårig intervensjon med fokus på naturvitenskapelige praksiser og naturvitenskapens egenart, veiledet av norske læreplaner. Elevene laget og testet hypoteser, deltok i planlegging av forsøk, skrev forskningsrapporter og tolket data. I de ulike naturvitenskapelige praksisene ble elevene oppfordret til å uttrykke sin forståelse for naturvitenskapens egenart. Seks elever ble intervjuet om sin forståelse av naturvitenskapens egenart hvert semester på 8., 9. og 10. trinn (unntatt høsten 10. trinn). Resultatene viser at elevene utviklet økt forståelse av flere sentrale aspekter ved naturvitenskapens egenart og en utvikling mot en anerkjennelse av kunnskap som konstruert. Elevene viste manglende forståelse av tolkningens rolle i naturvitenskapen, til tross for at de stadig tolket data i sine utforskninger. Selv om elevene brukte vitenskapelige prinsipper når de reflekterte over problemstillinger, hypoteser og i argumentasjon, så viste de manglende forståelse av slike verdier og prinsipper som underligger den naturvitenskapelige virksomheten. Disse resultatene støtter tidligere funn som vektlegger viktigheten av å hjelpe elevene til å bygge bro mellom aspekter ved naturvitenskapens egenart og elevenes deltakelse i naturvitenskapelige praksiser
... There is now a substantial number of reviewed studies that illustrate how FRA has been applied empirically in science education (see Cheung & Erduran, 2022;Erduran et al., 2019). For example, there is an increasing body of evidence about the impact of the FRA on shaping interventions in teacher education Saribas & Ceyhan, 2015;Voss et al., 2023) and undergraduate science teaching programs (Petersen et al., 2020), using the FRA as an analytical tool for examining STEM curricula and textbooks in different languages (Couso & Simmaro, 2020;Mork et al., 2022;Park et al., 2020;Salem, 2021) and high-stakes assessments (Cheung, 2020), as well as for tracing elementary (Akbayrak & Kaya, 2020) and university (Akgun & Kaya, 2020) students' understanding of NOS. In terms of practical utility, numerous resources have been developed based on the FRA. ...
... Some FRA assessment tools have been developed to explore pre-service teachers' (Kaya et al., 2019) and students' (Çilekrenkli & Kaya, 2022;Petersen et al., 2020) understanding of the nature of science. Future research might consider exploring synergies and tensions between the intended NOS-infused curriculum goals, teacher instruction, and student learning outcomes. ...
Nine years after reconceptualizing the nature of science for science education using the family resemblance approach (FRA) (Erduran & Dagher, 2014a), the time is ripe for taking stock of what this approach has accomplished, and what future research it can facilitate. This reflective paper aims to accomplish three goals. The first addresses several questions related to the FRA for the purpose of ensuring that the applications of FRA in science education are based on robust understanding of the framework. The second discusses the significance of the FRA by highlighting its capacity to support science educators with the exploration of a wide range of contemporary issues that are relevant to how teachers and learners perceive and experience science. The third goal of the paper offers recommendations for future directions in FRA research in the areas of science identity development and multicultural education as well as curriculum, instruction, and assessment in science education.
... HT The FRA has been used in science education to develop strategies for teacher education (Erduran et al., 2018;Kaya et al. 2019), undergraduate teaching (Petersen et al. 2020) as well as an analytical tool for examining science (Yeh, Erduran, and Hsu 2019), STEM curricula (Couso and Simmaro 2020;Park, Wu, and Erduran 2020), and science assessments (Cheung 2020). Students' understanding of NOS has been investigated from an FRA perspective at elementary (Akbayrak and Kaya 2020) and university level (Akgun and Kaya 2020). ...
Background
Teaching and learning of nature of science (NOS) is an explicit goal in the core science curriculum in Norway. Yet there is little understanding of how the content of the current textbooks in certain educational pathways such as vocational training addresses NOS. Purpose: The aim of this study is to contribute to research on NOS in VET through exploring how the cognitive and epistemic aspects of NOS are addressed in end-of-chapter tasks in Norwegian science textbooks for vocational studies.
Design and Methods
In this paper, we use a particular characterisation of NOS based on the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) to investigate the cognitive-epistemic aspects of NOS in the science textbooks aimed at vocational education in Norway. The cognitive-epistemic aspects are about the aims and values, methods, practices, and knowledge in science. Three key textbooks have been selected and analysed with a focus on end-of-chapter tasks.
Results
The results illustrate that NOS were almost absent in the tasks in all textbooks. Patterns across the coverage of NOS in the textbooks are discussed along with some implications for future studies.
... On the other hand, SSI instruction does not guarantee that students' NOS misunderstandings would cease to exist. Petersen et al. (2020) conducted an intervention to improve the NOS views of 93 undergraduate students in Germany who were taking a genetics course. The researchers used a reflective approach to concentrate on SSI. ...
... Following the intervention, the students' understanding was still weak. Petersen et al. (2020) believe that some misconceptions were not as flexible to change as others. The authors believe that more research on the learning process of NOS is needed to improve NOS instruction. ...
The goal of all reform documents in science education is to target scientific literacy. Toward that end, having students understand the nature of science (NOS) is a critical component. As it turns out, the development of NOS conceptions is a cognitive learning outcome. Therefore, an explicit approach needs to be promoted and emphasized in the classrooms to address students’ conceptions of NOS. At the same time, the development of NOS conceptions among learners is context dependent. Consequently, different learning frameworks might influence the NOS conceptions of learners in various ways. There are several frameworks to contextualize NOS instruction in relation to three different contexts: history of science (HOS), scientific inquiry (SI), and socioscientific issues (SSI). As such, the aim of this study was to review studies on NOS instruction, categorize the reviewed studies into different contexts, and investigate the effect of these different contexts on the improvement in students’ conceptions of NOS. As a conclusion, implications for future research and classroom practice related to the explicit teaching about NOS in these contexts were discussed.
... FRA has shaped undergraduate (Petersen et al., 2020) as well as secondary science teaching (Çilekrenkli & Kaya, 2022), and it has been used for curriculum and assessment analysis (Cheung, 2020). Erduran and Dagher's (2014) eleven categories are represented in an "FRA Wheel" which is used as a visual tool to communicate the interdependence of the categories (e.g., finances influence aims and values of scientific research). ...
The goal of this study was to examine the way preservice science teachers depict and develop their understanding of nature of science (NOS), from the perspective of the family resemblance approach (FRA). FRA defines NOS as a Cognitive-Epistemic and Social-Institutional system. Appling the dual-analytic approach via reflective drawing analysis, we studied participants’ drawings and written explanations, before and after participating in a “methods of teaching” course. The findings indicated a significant increase in the number of preservice science teachers who associated NOS with scientific practices, methods and methodological rules, scientific knowledge, and scientists’ professional activities. The findings also indicated an increase in the number of categories identified within the Cognitive-Epistemic domain, and an increase in the number of new categories associated with the Social-Institutional domain. The FRA-related activities resulted in an improvement trajectory, indicating a transition from a stance based on a learner’s perspective of asking everyday questions toward a more epistemic, social, and institutional stance, depicting understanding of NOS from a scientist viewpoint.
... Subsequently, they and their collaborators have contributed to the FRA by applying it empirically to a wide range of areas such as curriculum and textbook analyses, pre-service teacher education, undergraduate teaching, and STEM education and students' understanding of nature of science (Akgün & Albayrak & Kaya, 2020;BouJaoude et al., 2017;Dagher & Erduran, 2016Erduran et al., 2017;Erduran et al., 2020;Erduran et al., 2019;Kaya & Erduran, 2016;Park et al., 2020;Petersen et al., 2020). The fact that Science & Education dedicated a special issue to the FRA attests to its fruitfulness. ...
The family resemblance approach to nature of science is receiving increasing attention by science educators since its inception about a decade ago. Many scholars of science education have contributed and continue to contribute to it not only theoretically but also by applying it empirically to a wide range of areas such as curriculum and textbook analyses, pre-service teacher training, undergraduate teaching and, STEM education. This article aims to develop the family resemblance approach further. We do this in several ways. First, we clarify its foundations in a way to reveal that it provides not only a domain-specific, but at the same time a domain-general conceptualization of nature of science. Second, we expand the structure of science as a social institution by adding a new category to it, i.e., the reward system, and justify it. Third, we show that two of the most common elements of the category “practices,” namely, observation and experimentation, display the character of family resemblance. Then, we explore this for methods and values in science. Finally, we discuss the possibility of a rapprochement between the family resemblance approach and the consensus view.
... A relatively new perspective on NOS is the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) (Erduran & Dagher, 2014;Irzik & Nola, 2014) and some contributions of the FRA in science education have been reviewed . FRA has been applied to teacher education (Kaya et al., 2019), undergraduate education (Akgun & Kaya, 2020;Cilekrenkli & Kaya, 2022;Mohan & Kelly, 2020;Petersen et al., 2020), curriculum analysis (Caramaschi et al., 2022;Cheung, 2020;Kaya & Erduran, 2016;Yeh et al., 2019), textbook analysis (McDonald, 2017;Park et al., 2020;Reinisch & Fricke, 2022), STEM education (Couso & Simmaro, 2020), and analysing student, teacher and scientists view of NOS (Peters-Burton et al., 2022). FRA considers NOS as a cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional system. ...
If students are to acquire deep learning in science, they need to know about the nature of science (NOS), particularly not only the cognitive-epistemic but also the social-institutional aspects of NOS. In this paper, we investigate the content of the Norwegian science curriculum in order to establish how NOS is represented, in particular to the social-institutional aspects of NOS, which have been reported to be underemphasised in science curricula from different parts of the world. We use the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) to NOS as the theoretical and analytical framework to investigate the science curriculum from Norway where there is a history of emphasising the values human dignity, identity and cultural diversity as well as respect for nature and environmental awareness. The findings show that the dominating aspects of NOS in the science curriculum are scientific practices and social values. The observation about the prominence of social values of science is in sharp contrast to comparable analyses, suggesting a particular orientation to NOS that considers the human element in the Norwegian science curriculum. Implications for science curriculum reform and future studies are discussed.
... As such the perspective provides a coherent approach to capturing domain-general and domain-specific aspects of NOS by highlighting the similarities and unique differences between various sciences (Erduran & Dagher, 2014). It now has practical adaptations for teacher education and science education-related studies (e.g., Cheung, 2020;Cullinane, 2018;Erduran et al., 2021;Kaya et al., 2019;Petersen et al., 2020), and other natural science subjects (Puttick & Cullinane, 2021). ...
... They do include ideas of the tentative nature of knowledge, laws vs theories, subjectivity, social and cultural influences, collaboration, scientific methods, creativity, and methodological naturalism. This instrument has been used in studies that utilized the RFN framework (Petersen et al., 2020), and although useful, these instruments were not based on the RFN model. ...
... Searches of the most up-to-date literature show studies that examine views of NOS continue to use the VNOS or SUSSI instruments (Bilican, 2018;Cofré et al., 2019;Gray & Fouad, 2019;Petersen et al., 2020). Many in the scientific education community continue to use the VNOS instrument to garner NOS views. ...