RESEARCH REPORT: Student understanding of the nature of science and their problem-solving strategies

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student understanding of the nature of science and their problem-solving strategies. Six hundred and twenty Year 8 students in Taiwan twice completed two conceptual problem-solving tests and a questionnaire on the nature of science. Four of these students were selected for follow-up interviews. The result of stepwise multiple regression indicated that the subscale on the nature of the scientific method consistently appeared as the best predictor for student problem-solving ability, explaining about 22% of the variance. It was also found that problem-solving strategies were more conceptually based for students that were high scorers on the nature of science survey.