A Refined Account of Nature of Science

The nature of science (NOS) has become a popular topic of science education research. This is also due to its short list of features, which essentially revised traditional views on the subject and provided simple answers to the complex questions regarding the status of scientific knowledge. In this chapter, the list of NOS features is reconsidered. It is stated that this list, as is, may harm, impede, and mislead the understanding of science. Yet, the refinement of its claims may enrich or sometimes reverse them. The suggested analysis calls for addressing the range of variation in each particular aspect of NOS. The approach of discipline–culture provides a useful platform for such reconsideration clarifying the questions common in the teaching of science. Cultural content knowledge naturally incorporates conceptual variation referring to the structure of knowledge and plurality of scientific methodology while drawing on the history and philosophy of science. The implication of such revision highlights the major role of science educators who face veracity of polar claims while constructing science curricula. The cultural approach protects their disciplinary content from oversimplification and provides the necessary philosophical defense of the traditional NOS claims as required for genuine understanding of science.