Furthermore, those who comprehend the durable, yet revisionary, nature of scientific knowledge will not be confused by changing science concepts or the disappearance of particular science ideas learned earlier. Individuals who
understand how science works will likely be less cynical about the scientific enterprise (Connelly et al., 1977, p. 7-8). Because science is often wrongly perceived primarily as a body of literal truths, entire fields of knowledge are sometimes questioned when single facts are revised. Perceiving science as a process of improving our understanding of the natural world turns the notion of tentativeness into a strength rather than a weakness. Surely, lack of knowledge about the history and philosophy of science would hinder teachers’ incorporation of philosophical aspects of science in their teaching.
In a 199 1 study, King showed that the science teachers he investigated attributed the
difficulties of incorporating ideas such as discovery and relevance in their science
instructions to their ignorance about history and philosophy of science.