Scientific practices in science education: a systematic review of research characteristics and trends

Abstract

Interest in research involving Scientific Practices has increased in recent years due to the importance given to the term in recente Science Education standards. This research presents results of a Systematic Review of articles involving Scientific Practices in Science Education. 44 articles from journals published in the last ten years (2010-2019) were analyzed from four databases: ERIC, Scielo, Scopus and Web of Science. The objectives were: I) To identify publications involving Scientific Practices in Science Education; II) To synthesize the characteristics of these publications; and III) To critically analyze research trends. For this, a qualitative investigation was carried out guided by Bardin's Content Analysis (2011) and Okoli's guide to a Systematic Review (2015). As a result it was identified that 26 articles (59.1%) were from North America and 18 (40.9%) from other countries in Europe, South America, Asia, Oceania, and Africa, thus characterizing Scientific Practices as a topic of international repercussion. The increase in research involving Scientific Practices, as seen in 89% of the studies which were published in the second half of the last decade, can be justified due to: 1) The impact of guiding documents which present great emphasis on Scientific Practices; and 2) The preference of some studies to use the concept of three-dimensional learning instead of "inquiry" . Among the most cited references, are the NRC (2012) and NGSS (2013) in 67.6% and 45.9% of the articles, respectively. Research gaps in Scientific Practices are also identified, such as a need for more research with a central focus on the theme, and research that investigates pre-service teacher education. Research in this context is relevant, since Science teaching supported by Scientific Practices is more easily promoted with intentional instruction in the initial training of teachers.