VASS

General Purpose:

To survey student views about knowing and learning science and assess their relation to student understanding.

Specific Objectives:

(a) To ascertain significant differences between the views of students, teachers and scientists.

(b) To identify patterns in student views and classify them in general profiles.

(c) To measure the effectiveness of instruction in changing student views and profiles.

(d) To assess the relation between student views/profiles and achievement.

(e) To compare student views/profiles at all grade levels K-16.

(f) To ascertain differences in the views/profiles of students in the various sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology,...)

Contrasting Alternatives Design (CAD):

Example:

Learning physics requires:
(a) a serious effort.
(b) a special talent.

Answer Options

1. Only (a), Never (b);
2. Mostly (a), Rarely (b);
3. More (a) Than (b);
4. Equally (a) & (b);
5. Only (b), Never (a);
6. Mostly (b), Rarely (a);
7. More (b) Than (a);
8. Neither (a) Nor (b)

Taxonomy of Contrasting Views about Science:

1. Structure: Science is a coherent body of knowledge about patterns in nature revealed by careful investigation
   行 rather than a collection of directly perceived facts.

2. Methodology: The methods of science are systematic and generic
   行 rather than idiosyncratic and situation specific.

3. Validity: Scientific knowledge is approximate, tentative, and refutable 行 rather than exact, absolute and final.

4. Mathematics is a tool used by scientists for describing and analyzing ideas
   行 rather than a source of factual knowledge.

   Mathematical modeling for problem solving involves more 行 than selecting mathematical formulas for number crunching.

5. Learnability: Science is learnable by anyone willing to make the effort
   行 not just by a few talented people.

   Achievement depends more on personal effort
   行 than on the influence of teacher or textbook.

6. Critical Thinking:For meaningful understanding of science, one needs to:

   (a) concentrate more on the systematic use of principles
   行 than on memorizing facts;
   (b) examine situations in many ways
   行 instead of following a single approach from an authoritative source;
   (c) look for discrepancies in one誷 own knowledge
   行 instead of just accumulating new information.
   (d) reconstruct new subject knowledge in one誷 own way
   行 instead of memorizing it as given.

7. Personal relevance: Science is relevant to everyone誷 life
   行 It is not exclusively of concern to scientists.

   Science should be studied more for personal benefit
   行 than for just fulfilling curriculum requirements.

Some Results:

I. Student views about knowing and learning a given science:
(a) often diverge from expert views commonly accepted within the science and education communities;
(b) differ from those reported in science education literature;
(c) differ from student views about other sciences.

II. Student views are not affected by traditional science instruction, but they affect the outcome of such instruction. For example, students are better achievers in science when they tend to prefer the primary alternatives in the taxonomy.

III. Student views vary across some demographic strata. For example, views of college female students are closer than those of their male peers to expert views about knowing and learning science.