The Bounded Nature of Science: An Effective Tool in an Equitable Approach to the Teaching of Science

This chapter draws on three broad areas of scholarship—the nature of science, learning theory, and equitable science instruction—to argue for the educational importance of emphasizing the bounded nature of science in science teaching. It is well accepted that science education should focus both on the knowledge that science produces as well as “knowledge about science.” Likewise, we recognize that learning science is a difficult process that requires the actions of an engaged, active learner. Learning is now understood to be influenced by a host of extra-cognitive factors, such as motivation, interest, emotions, belief/acceptance, even identity. Equitable science instruction suggests that teachers should be aware of who they are teaching, knowing the critical intersections between science, school science, and the cultural backgrounds of the students themselves. Drawing from these three lines of inquiry, we describe how the bounded nature of science—the idea that science is limited in its scope by its reliance on methodological naturalism—is an important tool in the teaching of science. Through an emphasis on teaching how the scope of science is bounded by its assumptions, as can be accomplished through a consideration of pseudoscientific topics in the classroom, we argue that teachers can appropriately situate science as nonthreatening to students’ religious or cultural worldviews, thus fostering science learning.