The purpose of this study is to lay a foundation for the application of scientific symmetry to science education. The research objectives and methods are as follows. First, this study theoretically examines what scientific symmetry is and reveals the connection between scientific symmetry and the nature of science. Second, to develop a scientific symmetry teaching and learning program that can be applied to school fields according to the ADDIE model based on the theoretical examination of scientific symmetry. Third, the effectiveness of the developed scientific symmetry teaching and learning program is analyzed from three aspects. The first aspect is to compare the pre- and post-test scores of mind maps on scientific symmetry using the R program's paired samples t-test, and analyze them. The second aspect is to analyze how scientific symmetry affected students' perspectives and feelings about science. The third aspect is to analyze how students' perceptions of the nature of science changed before and after their experience with the scientific symmetry teaching and learning program using the SUSSI test.
The results of the study are as follows First, the study conducted a theoretical examination of scientific symmetry based on the history of science, and defined scientific symmetry in physics as ‘the equivalence of two apparently different objects or situations by mathematical transformation,’ and defined scientific symmetry in biology as ‘the equivalence of apparently different objects or situations by biological laws or theories,’ centering on the concept of equivalence utilized in physics and philosophy of science. In addition, by relating the interpretation of scientific symmetry in the history of science to the five elements of the consensus view of the nature of science, this study provides a theoretical background that can be utilized in the education of the nature of science. Second, a teaching and learning program for learning scientific symmetry was developed. The finalized teaching and learning program consisted of seven sessions, including Recognizing Symmetry ①, which consisted of two sessions, Exploring the Traditional & Modern Science, which consisted of two sessions, Recognizing Symmetry ②, which consisted of two sessions, and Symmetry & Scientific Advancement, which consisted of one session. The results of the effectiveness analysis are as follows First, the mind map analysis shows that the scientific symmetry teaching and learning program is effective in learning scientific symmetry and its related concepts. Second, the learning opportunities about scientific symmetry help foster positive perspectives and feelings about science, such as providing an opportunity to reflect on science. Third, it was shown that scientific symmetry can also function effectively in learning about the nature of science. In addition, the scientific symmetry teaching and learning program developed in this study provided students with a satisfactory experience in terms of teaching and learning strategies and methods, and provided students with opportunities to learn about different scientists or to explore scientific theories they already knew in detail. Finally, the study makes the following recommendations. First, the aesthetic characteristics of science, including scientific symmetry, are considered to be a field of philosophy of science, and in order to apply these elements of philosophy of science to science teaching and learning, it is necessary to increase access to philosophy of science through pre-service teacher education programs and in-service teacher training, and to raise awareness of its importance. Second, the recently revised 2022 curriculum includes a new course, "History and Culture of Science," that utilizes the aesthetic features of science, and various teaching and learning approaches should be explicitly provided in conjunction with the curriculum. Finally, science educators, philosophers of science, and scientists should collaborate to help students learn core principles of science, such as scientific symmetry.