Asia-Pacific Science Education

Table 2 Descriptions and representative items of each dimension in the VNOS scale

From: Exploration of the variety of teachers’ VNOS in China: Is the “step-over development” approach effective?

Sub-scale	Dimension	Descriptions	Representative items
Classic VNOS	Importance of observation	Observation is a basic scientific method, which plays an important role in scientific exploration.	Detailed and thorough data analysis can offset the lack of an observation step in an enquiry (reverse scoring).
	Unity of science	Science is unified, there is a unified family of methodology involved in science.	If the history could be re-run, scientific knowledge might not be as it stands now (reverse scoring).
	Objectivity of science	Science seeks the objective truth.	As science continues to develop, scientific exploration will become increasingly closer to the truth.
	Communication and collaboration in science	Communication and collaboration is beneficial to scientists for keeping unbiased and creative.	To ensure that their findings are correct, scientists communicate with each other regularly.
Modern VNOS	Observations and inferences	Scientific knowledge development involves a combination of observations and inferences.	Scientists might offer different interpretations based on the same observations.
	Tentativeness	Scientific knowledge is tentative and subject to change.	Scientific theories could be completely replaced by new theories in light of new evidence.
	Scientific theories and law	Scientific theories and laws are functionally different types of scientific knowledge.	Scientific laws are theories that have been proved (reverse scoring).
	Social and cultural embeddedness	Scientific knowledge is socially and culturally embedded.	Scientific research is not influenced by society and culture because scientists are trained to conduct pure, unbiased studies (reverse scoring).
	Creativity and Imagination	Scientific knowledge development involves human imagination and creativity.	Scientists use their imagination and creativity when they collect data.
	Scientific methods	Scientific knowledge development involves the use of diverse scientific methods.	Scientists use different types of methods to conduct scientific investigations.

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