Influence of NOS on Argumentation. To the author’s best knowledge, only one study
(Zeidler, Walker, Ackett, & Simmons, 2002) targeted the influence of NOS on argumentation.
That study investigated the relationship between students’ views of NOS and their reactions
to evidence that challenged their views. A group of high school and college students responded
to questions about NOS and their beliefs about a socioscientific issue. Students were
required to (a) take a position and justify it, and (b) come up with evidence to convince
another person about their view. For NOS, the two questions addressed the availability of
multiple views and the role of scientific knowledge in their positions. Results showed that
(a) students viewed the scientific enterprise in light of social and cultural perspectives,
(b) students held narrow views of the role of empirical evidence, and (c) students compartmentalized
scientific and personal knowledge. Similar to the present study, questions relating
to argumentation and NOS were in the same context (i.e., in response to the same scenario
targeting the socioscientific issue).