Resumen de Student perceptions of the knowledge generated in some scientific fields

Keith S. Taber, Berry Billingsley, Fran Riga

• Secondary-age students were asked about some science-related careers, using an “interviews-about-scenarios” technique. This article reflects on students’ comments relating to the nature of scientific knowledge. Some comments reflected the aim of science as a means to better understand the world and our place in it. Other comments reflected perceptions of the possibility of applying scientific knowledge to engineer change – something that had great benefits, but also risks. There was also evidence that some students might hold misleadingly positivistic notions about scientific knowledge that may distort perceptions of some area s of scientific work.