The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two teaching approaches for senior secondary biology students to learn about the nature of science (NOS): the History of Science (HOS) approach, which is the most commonly used approach in Hong Kong schools, and the Socio- scientific Issue (SSI) approach, which develops students’ understanding of NOS through analysis of socio-scientific issues. This study was motivated by the consistent reports by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) on the poor performance of Grade 12 Biology students in the Hong Kong Diploma of Education Examination (HKDSE) regarding their understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS). From the literature, the SSI approach presents a viable alternative in improving students learning of NOS. Three research questions were construed. 1) Could the SSI or HOS approach enhance Hong Kong senior secondary students’ understanding of major tenets of NOS? 2) Which approach, SSI or HOS, could help Senior Secondary Biology students develop more informed conceptions of major NOS tenets? 3) Are there any influences of gender or biology performance on students’ learning of NOS using either approach?This research was based on a quasi-experiment design. The sample consists of 67 secondary students from four intact classes, two of which were biology classes at Grade 11 and two biology classes at Grade 12. They were divided into two treatment groups (HOS and SSI), with each group comprising one Grade 11 and one Grade 12 class. All students received a pre-test consisting of 10 open-ended questions based on the Views of Nature of Science form D+ (VNOS-D+) instrument to test students’ understanding of NOS before the intervention. After this, both groups went through a 3-day learning process to enhance their understanding of NOS. The only difference was that one group was taught through the HOS approach, while the other group received the intervention by using SSI. After almost two weeks of the

In recent years, research on students' scientific competencies has generated much discussion. According to the PISA 2015 Assessment and Analytical Framework, both scientific competencies and attitudes towards science - interest in science, valuing scientific approaches to enquiry (or epistemological beliefs about science), and environmental awareness - are integral aspects of scientific literacy. However, few studies have focused on the relationships between them. This article examines how students' scientific competencies are affected by their attitudes. Based on a theoretical analysis, the present study argues that the three attitudinal factors have a direct impact on scientific competencies, interest has an immediate influence on the other two attitudes, and epistemological beliefs are directly affected by environmental awareness. To test this hypothesis, a model was constructed to verify such relationships. PISA 2015 assessment instruments were used for data collection. The participants were 25,658 students from different parts of China, containing Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results confirmed our hypothesis. The way in which Chinese students' attitudes affected their scientific competencies did not differ (to a statistically significant level) by gender or district. The limitations and implications of this research are discussed below.
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