科學探究活動中國小五年級學童科學解釋能力及認識論之研究

Abstract

本研究目的是要探討國小五年級學生在科學探究活動中，科學解釋能力的成長情形，分析學生在科學探究活動中所呈現的科學認識論，進而討論學生在進行探究活動中學生所持有的認識論和解釋能力間的關係。本研究之對象為兩班共69名五年級學生，在五週期間，收集晤談、問卷、教室觀察等多項量化與質性資料，所針對的三項科學解釋能力為：指出變數間的關係、產生解釋的推理過程、提出證據支持主張，而科學認識論是指學生對於科學探究和科學知識的本質的想法，其中分為實務認識論和形式認識論兩部分。資料分析結果顯示，在經過探究活動後，學生產生解釋的推理過程的能力成長趨勢最為明顯，指出變數間關係的能力為次之，提出證據支持主張的能力成長趨勢為最小。學生的形式認識論較偏向於建構主義的認識論；而在實務認識論方面，二十三位焦點學生中，只有九位學生所持有的實務認識論為實徵主義的認識論，其他學生的實務認識論皆是同時混合實徵與建構主義的認識論。在科學解釋能力與認識論的關係方面，形式認識論為建構主義認識論傾向的學生具有較高的解釋能力，而學生的實務認識論若為混合認識論則指出變數間的關係、產生解釋的推理過程的能力和提出證據支持主張的進步較實徵主義觀點的學生為大。另外，根據教室活動的分析發現學生指出變數間的關係、產生解釋的推理過程和提出證據支持主張的能力和他們所呈現的實務認識論有相關性。

The purpose of the study is to develop students’ explanation skills, explore their scientific epistemologies, and investigate the relationships between students’ explanation skills and scientific epistemologies in inquiry-based learning environment. This study focuses on three explanation skills: “identifying the relationships of variables,” “describing a reasoning process for constructing scientific explanations,” and “using data as evidence,” and scientific epistemologies in this study refer to students’ beliefs about the nature of science (formal epistemology) and their practices of inquiry (practical epistemology). After analyzing quantitative and qualitative data collected from 69 fifth graders in two science classes, the results show that the skill in “describing a reasoning process for constructing scientific explanation” could be more easily developed, and the improvement of skill in “using data as evidence” was the least. The statistical results from a formal epistemology questionnaire show that all students held constructivist epistemological beliefs. However, the findings from practical epistemology interviews and video recordings of inquiry activities reveal that 9 of 23 focus students had empiricist epistemological beliefs, while the others held mixed epistemological beliefs, including both empiricist epistemological beliefs and constructivist epistemological beliefs. In addition, the results of multiple data analyses suggest that students holding mixed epistemological beliefs tended to develop scientific explanation skills more easily than those holding empiricist epistemological beliefs. And according to video recordings of inquiry activities, the development of students’ explanation skills were related to their epistemological beliefs.