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The Development of a New Instrument: ‘Views on Science—Technology—Society’ (VOSTS)
Author(s) -
Aikenhead Glen S.,
Ryan Alan G.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
science education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.209
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1098-237X
pISSN - 0036-8326
DOI - 10.1002/sce.3730760503
Subject(s) - library science , citation , sociology , media studies , computer science
Educators who plan science lessons, who develop science curricula, or who evaluate learning, often wonder about students' preconceptions of the material to be taught. Until now, attention has mainly focused on traditional science content (Driver, 1988; West and Pines, 1985). However, content related to the nature of science (for example, science's epistemology and its social context) is receiving increased attention because of interest in teaching science through a science-tech-nology-society (STS) approach or teaching science in concert with the history and philosophy of science (Bybee, 1987; Hodson, 1988; Posner and Strike, 1989; Gruen-der and Tobin, 1991); What are high school students' preconceptions concerning the epistemology and sociology of science? This question is addressed in two related articles that stem from the same research study. This first article describes the development of a new research instrument that monitors students' views on a broad range of STS topics,