THE ROLE OF SCIENTIFIC TERMINOLOGY IN RESEARCH AND TEACHING - IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT MISSING

The recent discussion between Lewis and Linn (Journal of Research in S cience Teaching, 33, 335-337, 1996) and Pushkin (Journal of Research i n Science Teaching, 33, 223-224, 1996) concerning the definitions of t erms relating to heat raises the broader issue of the nature of scient ific terms and their role in instruction. We illustrate that in just t wo significant examples (heat and electricity) it is easy to illustrat e from the literature that there is not agreement as to the meaning of the terms among scientists and that between texts, even within texts, terms are used in such inconsistent ways that there is no logical way to sort out the meanings of the terms. Hence, if ''standard interpret ations of scientific knowledge to be taught'' do not actually exist, t hen how can the teaching of standard interpretations of scientific kno wledge be established as a goal to be accomplished? (C) 1997 John Wile y & Sons, Inc.