The Effects of Introductory (Non-Science-Major) Physics Courses on Students' View of the Nature of Science: The Roles of Instructional Type and Religiosit

This study sought to determine if the type of instruction students received and students' self-reported preexistent religious views affect students' understanding of the Nature of Science. With the majority of college students seeking degrees outside of the sciences, introductory courses in specific scientific disciplines that are taught for the non-science-major audience are likely the last formal science instruction a student will receive. These students will, in the course of their lifetimes, educate the next generation, vote on important legislation, and work in society. There is a movement by science educators in general, and physics educators in particular, advocating teaching students about the Nature of Science in addition to the science content. The belief is that even if a student forgets specific facts, he or she will retain the overall knowledge of what science consists and the principles under which it operates. This study examined students from a large public research university and from a small private Christian college, seeking empirical confirmation of this assumption as well as how instructional type (direct or indirect) and religiosity may influence student learning in a one-semester introductory physics course for non-majors. The participants of this study were primarily traditionally-aged students who overwhelmingly identified themselves as Christian.;Although further research with a larger, more diverse population is warranted, the significance of this study is two-fold: after completing a one-semester-long course 1) regardless of instructional type, students who reported a high religious commitment (primarily "Christian") were more likely to view science as tentative, and 2) students who received direct instruction, regardless of their self-reported religiosity, reported a slightly lower final view of both Coherence/Objectivity and Durability while students who received indirect instruction reported a higher view of both of these aspects of NOS.