scientific method, skills and attitudes.doc

8/14/2019 SCIENTIFIC METHOD, SKILLS AND ATTITUDES.doc

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SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Science is not merely a collection of facts, concepts, and useful ideas

about nature, or even the systematic investigation of nature, although

both are common definitions of science. Science is a method of

investigating nature--a way of knowing about nature--that discovers

reliable knowledge about it. In other words, science is a method of

discovering reliable knowledgeabout nature. There are other methods

of discovering and learning knowledge about nature (these other

knowledge methods or systems will be discussed below in

contradistinction to science), but science is the onlymethod that results in

the acquisition of reliable knowledge.

Reliable knowledge is knowledge that has a high probability of being true

because its veracity has been justified by a reliable method. eliable

knowledge is sometimes called justified true belief to distinguish

reliable knowledge from belief that is false and un!ustified or even true

but un!ustified. "very person has knowledge or beliefs, but not all of each

person#s knowledge is reliably true and !ustified. In fact, most individuals

believe in things that are untrue or un!ustified or both$ most people

possess a lot of unreliable knowledge and, what#s worse, they act on that

knowledge% &ther ways of knowing, and there are many in addition to

science, are not reliable because their discovered knowledge is not

justified. Science is a method that allows a person to possess, with the

highest degree of certainty possible, reliable knowledge (!ustified true

belief) about nature. The method used to !ustify scientific knowledge, and

thus make it reliable, is called the s!ientifi! method

'hen one uses the scientific method to study or investigate nature or the

universe, one is practicing scientific thinking. ll scientists practice

scientific thinking, of course, since they are actively studying nature and

investigating the universe by using the scientific method. ut scientific

thinking is not reserved solely for scientists. nyone can *think like a

scientist* who learns the scientific method and, most importantly, appliesits precepts, whether he or she is investigating nature or not. 'hen one


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uses the methods and principles of scientific thinking in everyday life++

such as when studying history or literature, investigating societies or

governments, seeking solutions to problems of economics or philosophy,

or !ust trying to answer personal questions about oneself or the meaningof eistence++one is said to be practicing !riti!al thinking"

Critical thinking is thinking correctly for oneself that successfully leads to

the most reliable answers to questions and solutions to problems.In other

words, critical thinking gives you reliable knowledge about all aspects of

your life and society, and is not restricted to the formal study of nature.

Scientific thinking is identical in theory and practice, but the term would

be used to describe the method that gives you reliable knowledge about

the natural world. -learly, scientific and critical thinking are the same

thing, but where one (scientific thinking) is always practiced by scientists,

the other (critical thinking) is sometimes used by humans and sometimes

not. Scientists mustpractice critical thinking to be successful, but the

qualifications for success in other professions do not necessarily require

the use of critical thinking, a fact that is the source of much confusion,

discord, and unhappiness in our society.

The scientific method has proven to be the most reliable and successful

method of thinking in human history, and it is quite possible to use

scientific thinking in other human endeavours.

IM#O$T%NCE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

The scientific method attempts to minimie the influence of bias or

pre!udice in the eperimenter. "ven the best+intentioned scientists can#t

escape bias. It results from personal beliefs, as well as cultural beliefs,

which means any human filters information based on his or her own

eperience. /nfortunately, this filtering process can cause a scientist to

prefer one outcome over another. 0or someone trying to solve a problem

around the house, succumbing to these kinds of biases is not such a big


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deal. ut in the scientific community, where results have to be reviewed

and duplicated, bias must be avoided at all costs.

That#s the !ob of the scientific method. It provides an ob!ective,

standardied approach to conducting eperiments and, in doing so,

improves their results. y using a standardied approach in their

investigations, scientists can feel confident that they will stick to the facts

and limit the influence of personal, preconceived notions. "ven with such

a rigorous methodology in place, some scientists still make mistakes.

0or eample, they can mistake a hypothesis for an eplanation of a

phenomenon without performing eperiments. &r they can fail to

accurately account for errors, such as measurement errors. &r they can

ignore data that does not support the hypothesis.


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SCIENTIFIC S&I''S

The history of science is in part the history of how scientists came to look

at the world they study. Scientific eperimentation and observation have

come to be defined by the eercise of a process called the scientific

method. The underlying skills and premises which govern the scientific

methodare referred to as science process skills.

Science process skills can be divided into two classes$ the basic science

process skills and the integrated science process skills. -lassification of

science process skills (S1S). &bserving is the most basic skill, whereas

eperimenting is the uppermost process skill.

(asi! s!ien!e )ro!ess skillsrefer to the following actions $ observation,

communication, classification, measurement, inference, prediction and

using number relationships. These basic skills are used in the eperiments

of scientists and students, as well as into the everyday life of average

person, to a degree. They allow everyone to conduct ob!ectiveinvestigation and to reach conclusions based on the results.

The first of the science process skills, obser*ation, involves noting the

attributes of ob!ects and situations through the use of the senses.

Classifi!ation goes one step further by grouping together ob!ects or

situations based on shared attributes. Measurement involves epressing

physical characteristics in quantitative ways. Communi!ation brings the
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first three skills together to report to others what has been found by

eperimentation.

Inferen!e and )redi!tion are the more sophisticated of the science

process skills. eyond simply seeing and reporting results, scientists must

etract meaning from them. These skills can involve finding patterns in

the results of a series of eperiments, and using eperience to form new

hypotheses. It is also essential for a scientist to be able to distinguish his

ob!ective observations from his inferences and predictions. This is

because scientific inquiry and study depend on ob!ectivity and an

avoidance of hasty assumptions in eperimentation. +sing number

relationshi)sinvolves by applying and their mathematical relationships

to make decisions.

Integrated s!ien!e )ro!ess skills are !om)le, processes that

combine two or more basic science processes. This means that the

student requires the ability to think at a higher level because he needs to

consider more than one thought simultaneously.

Thus, basic science process skills are the precondition for integrated

science process skills. Integrated science skills are necessary for carrying

out eperiments. These integrated skills are to assess information, define

operationally, control variables, make hypotheses and conduct

eperiments

ll of the science process skills contribute to a larger purpose, namely

problem solving. 1roblem solving is the reason for scientific inquiry, and

forms the essence of it. typical eperiment wherein a scientist uses

process skills and the scientific method will start with certain questions

being asked. ased on prior knowledge and eperience, the scientist will

make an educated guess as to the answer or outcome. This hypothesis

will guide the design and eecution of an eperiment.

&nce the eperimental variables have been determined, they can be

isolated and controlled. -onclusions drawn based on accurate datacollection during the procedure can lead to the hypothesis being verified
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or proven incorrect. "perience will show a scientist that different

conclusions can be drawn from the same set of observations, and still be

correct.

IM#O$T%NCE OF THE SCIENTIFIC S&I''S

Science educators are of the opinion that learning science process skills

means 2learning how to learn3. -hildren learn through critical thinking

and by using information creatively. They discover the learning method

when making wise observations, organising and analysing facts and

concepts, and assessing the eperiment results as well as by making

inferences based on proof obtained. -hildren also learn to predict what

would happen of the situation governing a natural phenomenon changes.

SCIENTIFIC %TTIT+DES %ND NO('E -%'+ES

SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDES

Scientific attitude is really a composite of a number of mental habits, or of

tendencies to react consistently in certain ways to a novel or problematic

situation. These habits or tendencies include accuracy, intellectual

honesty, open+mindedness, suspended !udgment, criticalness, and a habit

of looking for true cause and effect relationships. It is a cognitive concept4

scientific attitudes are normally associated with the mental processes of

scientists. These habits are important in the everyday life and thinking,

not only of the scientist, but of everyone.

Scientific attitudes possess attributes thought to be either true or false

and do not epress an evaluative quality. To lessen the semantic


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confusion, scientific attitudes may be better labelled as *scientific

attributes*. The attributes of scientific attitude are

rationality

curiosity

open mindedness

aversion to superstitions

ob!ectivity and intellectual honesty

suspended !udgement

NOBLE VALUES

Implicit in teaching science has been the teaching of a set of values.

5owever, its presence has remained unacknowledged because of

assumptions made that its products are value+free and that work of

science involves positive values. 6alaysian schools have introduced a set

of noble values to be taught as a sub!ect called moral education while at

the same time epecting all sub!ects, including the sciences to actively

inculcate these noble values in their lessons. search for values related

to science included studies from science education curriculums, studies by

scientists and philosophers of science, feminist and Indian critics of

science. These values could be categoried into four categories

representing epistemological values, supporting values, societal and

moral values and power+oriented values. 'hile some categories

compliment each other, others are in contention.

compassionate scientist should be a reality. The task for 6alaysian

science educators is to find a way to raise awareness of these values.

5aving an interest and curiosity towards the environment.

eing honest and accurate in recording and validating data


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eing diligent and persevering

eing responsible about the safety of oneself, others, and the

environment.

ealising that science is a means to understand nature

ppreciating and practising clean and healthy living.

ppreciating the balance of nature.

eing respectful and well+mannered.

eing thankful to 7od.

Thinking rationally.

eing confident and independent.

IM#O$T%NCE OF SCIENTIFIC %TTIT+DES %ND NO('E -%'+ES


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