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The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an online contextualized test for assessing students’ understanding of epistemic knowledge of science. In addition, how students’ understanding of epistemic knowledge of science interacts with learner factors, including time spent on science learning, interest, self-efficacy, and gender, was also explored. The participants were 489 senior high school students (244 males and 245 females) from eight different schools in Taiwan. Based on the result of an extensive literature review, we first identified six factors of epistemic knowledge of science, such as status of scientific knowledge, the nature of scientific enterprise, measurement in science, and so on. An online test was then created for assessing students’ understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science. Also, a learner-factor survey was developed by adopting previous PISA survey items to measure the abovementioned learner factors. The results of this study show that; (1) by factor analysis, the six factors of epistemic knowledge of science could be grouped into two dimensions which reflect the nature of scientific knowledge and knowing in science, respectively; (2) there was a gender difference in the participants’ understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science; and (3) students’ interest in science learning and the time spent on science learning were positively correlated to their understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science.

Examining and developing courses of education for sustainable development (ESD) is the goal of this study. Building on the theory of game-based learning, this study develops teaching strategies that employ board games for ESD. The design context of the board game, entitled “Be Blessed Taiwan”, is situated in the dilemma between biological conservation and economic development. It incorporates four core systemic concepts: the economy, policies, society, and ecology. Students from two high schools played the game for 200 min and 400 min, respectively (100 min per week). The study collected complete pre-game and post-game data from 34 high school students, including the test of scientific concepts, interviews, and gameplay results. The research results indicate that students’ test scores significantly increased after the gameplay with a medium effect size, specifically, a large effect on the dimension of biodiversity concepts and a medium effect on the dimension of biological conservation concepts. The analysis of students’ gameplay results shows the difficulty for high-school students to achieve all four ESD goals.

This study designed a teaching unit in a chemistry course to engage students in discussing the complex issue of renewable energy development. In the 11-week learning activities, 66 ninth-grade students experienced individual exploration, group collaborative learning, and the operation of a web-based instant response system. Their learning outcomes were measured by the scientific conceptual test and the scientific literacy questionnaire, while their decision-making and argumentation processes were recorded using the instant response system. Results indicated statistically significant gains on the scientific concepts regarding solar cell and energy sources, as well as on the scores of scientific literacy. Likewise, students performed a substantial increase in argumentation skills, especially for those related to evidence-based arguments. Different science achievers showed a mixed pattern in proposing evidence to support their arguments. Using web technology in teaching argumentation on environmental issues is promised to raise students’ interest in acquiring scientific knowledge to deal with relevant issues.

Taiwan's government enacted the Environmental Education Act in June 2011. In the beginning of the implementation of the Act, a national assessment of schoolteachers’ environmental literacy was performed in order to establish the baseline for evaluating the effectiveness of environmental education policy. This large-scale assessment involved a large sample size of in-service teachers across schools at all levels and regions in Taiwan using the stratified random sampling method. Data showed that the teachers have satisfactory levels of environmental knowledge and attitudes, but presented low degrees of environmental action. Differing from previous research results, elementary teachers performed better than high school teachers on this assessment, which may be attributed to their teacher training experiences. Results from this study may provide implications for teacher professional development programs and school environmental education policy.

This study aims to test the nature of the assumption that there are relationships between scientific epistemological views (SEVs) and reasoning processes in socioscientific decision making. A mixed methodology that combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches of data collection and analysis was adopted not only to verify the assumption but also to explore the patterns of interaction between the two constructs. A total of 177 college students (60% science and 40% non-science majors) completed a SEVs survey and a decision-making instrument. The decision-making instrument contains expository text introducing the environmental management issue of an invasive species, and a series of open-ended questions to elicit participants' reasons and judgments on the issue. Analyses revealed that tentativeness and creativity of SEVs are the significant components directly manifested in the socioscientific decision-making process. Students who held changing and tentative beliefs about scientific knowledge were more likely to recognize the complexity, take multiple perspectives, and question omniscient authority in the decision-making process. It was also found that over one-half of the college students, especially those who were science majors, make decisions based on a single disciplinary perspective. The findings suggest that educational programs should encourage students to actively participate in issue investigation and decision making by utilizing multiple reasoning modes and interdisciplinary thinking. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed95: 497–517, 2011

The aim of this nationwide survey was to assess undergraduate students’ environmental literacy level in Taiwan. A total of 29,498 valid responses were received from a number of selected colleges and universities in Taiwan, using stratified random sampling method. A total of 70 items were used to assess the environmental literacy and the results revealed that undergraduate students had a relatively low level of environmental knowledge and behavior, while a moderate level of environmental attitudes was attained. The findings also indicated no significant correlations between knowledge and attitudes or between knowledge and behavior. However, a higher level of environmental knowledge correlated significantly with a higher degree of pro-environmental behavior, and a higher level of environmental knowledge correlated with stronger attitudes. The results also suggested that females outperformed the males in all categories. Results from this study could contribute towards further relevant policy discussion and decision-making, curriculum design and development to the improvement of environmental education in the higher education sector.

This study explores the relationship, if any, between an individual’s culturally based worldviews and conceptions of nature of science. In addition, the implications of this relationship (or lack of relationship) for science teaching and learning are discussed. Participants were 54 Taiwanese prospective science teachers. Their conceptions of nature of science and their worldviews specific to humans’ relationship with the natural world were assessed using two open‐ended questionnaires in conjunction with follow‐up interviews. Their understandings of nature of science were classified into informed and naive categories based upon contemporary views of these constructs and those stressed in international reform documents. An anthropocentric–naturecentric continuum emerged and is used to explain the participants’ views about humans’ relationship with Nature. Participants who recognized the limitations of scientific knowledge, and accept the idea that science involves subjective and cultural components, were mo...

The purpose of this study was to describe the development and validation of an instrument to identify various dimensions of scientific epistemological views (SEVs) held by high school students. The instrument included five SEV dimensions (subscales): the role of social negotiation on science, the invented and creative reality of science, the theory‐laden exploration of science, the cultural impacts on science, and the changing features of science. Six hundred and thirteen high school students in Taiwan responded to the instrument. Data analysis indicated that the instrument developed in this study had satisfactory validity and reliability measures. Correlation analysis and in‐depth interviews supported the legitimacy of using multiple dimensions in representing student SEVs. Significant differences were found between male and female students, and between students’ and their teachers’ responses on some SEV dimensions. Suggestions were made about the use of the instrument to examine complicated interplays b...

This study examined the conceptions of nature of science (NOS) possessed by a group of gifted seventh-grade students from Taiwan. The students were engaged in a 1-week science camp with emphasis on scientific inquiry and NOS. A Chinese version of a NOS questionnaire was developed, specifically addressing the context of Chinese culture, to assess students' views on the development of scientific knowledge. Pretest results indicated that the majority of participants had a basic understanding of the tentative, subjective, empirical, and socially and culturally embedded aspects of NOS. Some conflicting views and misconceptions held by the participants are discussed. There were no significant changes in students' views of NOS after instruction, possibly due to time limitations and a ceiling effect. The relationship between students' cultural values and development of NOS conceptions and the impact of NOS knowledge on students' science learning are worth further investigation.