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The role of scientific terminology in research and teaching: Is something important missing?
Author(s) -
Slisko Josip,
Dykstra, Dewey I.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2736(199708)34:6<655::aid-tea7>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - terminology , meaning (existential) , epistemology , scientific misconceptions , mathematics education , science education , scientific terminology , sort , sociology of scientific knowledge , sociology , computer science , psychology , philosophy , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics , information retrieval
The recent discussion between Lewis and Linn ( Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33, 335–337, 1996) and Pushkin ( Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33, 223–224, 1996) concerning the definitions of terms relating to heat raises the broader issue of the nature of scientific terms and their role in instruction. We illustrate that in just two significant examples (heat and electricity) it is easy to illustrate from the literature that there is not agreement as to the meaning of the terms among scientists and that between texts, even within texts, terms are used in such inconsistent ways that there is no logical way to sort out the meanings of the terms. Hence, if “standard interpretations of scientific knowledge to be taught” do not actually exist, then how can the teaching of standard interpretations of scientific knowledge be established as a goal to be accomplished? © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 655–660, 1997.