TY - JOUR
T1 - Innovations, Challenges and Future Directions in Nature of Science Research
T2 - Reflections from Early Career Academics
AU - Park, Wonyong
AU - Cullinane, Alison
AU - Gandolfi, Haira
AU - Alameh, Sahar
AU - Mesci, Günkut
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - There has been sustained research interest in the role of early career researchers in advancing the field and the challenges that they face. However, efforts to document lived experiences of researchers working in a specific research area within science education have been scarce. This paper considers the meaning of innovation in the context of nature of science (NOS) research, drawing from a collective reflection of five early career academics from different backgrounds. After discussing the sources of our motivation to innovate in NOS research, we identify four distinct pathways of innovation. These pathways include (1) delving into specific aspects of NOS in greater depth, (2) exploring the interface of NOS and other established research areas, and (3) using NOS to address pressing social issues, and (4) expanding the methodological repertoire of NOS research. We illustrate these four modes of research innovation using examples from our own work. Barriers to early-career innovation such as the absence of NOS in curricula and initial teacher education, the lack of time to engage with practitioners to develop and implement instructional resources, and the underrepresentation of diverse education systems in NOS research literature are discussed.
AB - There has been sustained research interest in the role of early career researchers in advancing the field and the challenges that they face. However, efforts to document lived experiences of researchers working in a specific research area within science education have been scarce. This paper considers the meaning of innovation in the context of nature of science (NOS) research, drawing from a collective reflection of five early career academics from different backgrounds. After discussing the sources of our motivation to innovate in NOS research, we identify four distinct pathways of innovation. These pathways include (1) delving into specific aspects of NOS in greater depth, (2) exploring the interface of NOS and other established research areas, and (3) using NOS to address pressing social issues, and (4) expanding the methodological repertoire of NOS research. We illustrate these four modes of research innovation using examples from our own work. Barriers to early-career innovation such as the absence of NOS in curricula and initial teacher education, the lack of time to engage with practitioners to develop and implement instructional resources, and the underrepresentation of diverse education systems in NOS research literature are discussed.
KW - Early career researchers
KW - History of science
KW - Nature of science
KW - Philosophy of science
KW - Research innovation
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U2 - 10.1007/s11165-023-10102-z
DO - 10.1007/s11165-023-10102-z
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85148049799
SN - 0157-244X
VL - 54
SP - 27
EP - 48
JO - Research in Science Education
JF - Research in Science Education
IS - 1
ER -