EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF HISTORY OF SCIENCE TEACHING ON SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE OF SCIENCE CONCEPTS, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD SCIENCE

Abstract

Although integrating the history of science (HOS) into teaching has long been recommended in science education research, studies have revealed conflicting results on its effectiveness. These are mainly due to the need for more studies in this context. Therefore, this research aimed to explore the impact of HOS teaching on science process skills, knowledge of science concepts, and attitudes toward science. In this research, a quasi-experimental research design was employed. The HOS was contextualized into the topic of the circulatory system. Two intact classes were chosen as the experimental group (EG) and the two others as the control group (CG). The EG students were involved in HOS activities during the treatment, while the CG students followed the curriculum-driven activities. The findings indicated that the impact of HOS education was evident, as students in the EG outperformed those in the CG in retaining knowledge of science concepts and demonstrating positive attitudes towards science. However, HOS education and curriculum-driven instruction have similarly impacted the development of science process skills. These results support the conceptual premise that HOS teaching is an alternative and a worthy way of supporting students’ scientific literacy. Keywords: attitudes toward science, experimental research, history of science teaching, science education, subject matter knowledge