Incorporating the nature of science in school science has been widely embraced
by organizations such as the Association for Science Education, (1981) in Britain
and organizations in the United States such as the National Science Teachers
Association, (1995), the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
(1989, 1993) and the National Research Council, (1996). Many contemporary
science educators agree that encouraging students’ understanding of the nature of
science, its presuppositions, values, aims, and limitations should be a central goal of
science teaching. As an example, Moms Shamos, (1995) argues in The Myth of
Scientific Literacy that while knowledge of science content may not be necessary for
obtaining science literacy, understanding the nature of science is prerequisite to such
literacy