Biology : the ultimate science for teaching an understanding of scientific evidence

Recent school science curriculum developments in many countries emphasise that scientists derive evidence for their claims through different approaches; that such practices are intimately bound up with disciplinary knowledge; and that the quality of data should be appreciated. This position paper focuses on the role of Biology to understand evidence, an essential component of ‘scientific practice’. Biology is an empirical science, using evidence to support claims. Yet biological practice is diverse – including, inter alia, observations, lab-based experimentation, field trials, ecological surveys, randomised controlled trials – so how can we teach, within the time-constraints of the curriculum, to help pupils really understand about evidence in biology? In this paper biology is shown to be the ultimate context for teaching about evidence and ‘scientific practice’. The paper draws on a body of research that presents an understanding of the validity of data as a set of conceptual relationships, shown on a concept map. Using examples from biological practice, the paper shows how teachers can illustrate the application of the network of all these ideas and their inter-relationships within the biology curriculum, to help pupils develop the necessary ‘thinking behind the doing’. The paper explores ways in which this understanding is inherently related to underpinning disciplinary ideas of biology.