132 Procedural Knowledge 48. A fundamental goal of science is to generate explanatory accounts of the material world.
Tentative explanatory accounts are first developed and then tested through empirical enquiry.
Empirical enquiry is reliant on certain well-established concepts such as the notion of dependent
and independent variables, the control of variables, types of measurement, forms of error, methods
for minimising error, common patterns observed in data, and methods of presenting data. It is this
knowledge of the concepts and procedures that are essential for scientific enquiry that underpins
the collection, analysis and interpretation of scientific data. Such ideas form a body of procedural
knowledge which has also been called ‘concepts of evidence’ (Gott, Duggan, & Roberts, 2008;
Millar, Lubben, Gott, & Duggan, 1995). One can think of procedural knowledge as knowledge of
the standard procedures scientists use to obtain reliable and valid data. Such knowledge is needed
both to undertake scientific enquiry and engage in critical review of the evidence that might be
used to support particular claims. It is expected, for instance, that students will know that scientific
knowledge has differing degrees of certainty associated with it and can explain why, for instance,
that there is a difference between the confidence associated with measurements of the speed of
light (which has been measured many times with ever more accurate instrumentation) and
measurements of fish stocks in the North Atlantic or the mountain lion population in California. The
examples listed in Figure 5 convey the general features of procedural knowledge that may be
tested.
Figure 5. PISA 2015 Procedural Knowledge Procedural Knowledge The concept of variables including dependent, independent and control variables;
Concepts of measurement
e.g. , quantitative [measurements], qualitative
[observations], the use of a scale, categorical and continuous variables;
Ways of assessing and minimising uncertainty such as repeating and averaging
measurements;
Mechanisms to ensure the replicability (closeness of agreement between repeated
measures of the same quantity) and accuracy of data (the closeness of agreement
between a measured quantity and a true value of the measure);
Common ways of abstracting and representing data using tables, graphs and charts
and their appropriate use;
The control of variables strategy and its role in experimental design or the use of
randomised controlled trials to avoid confounded findings and identify possible
causal mechanisms;
The nature of an appropriate design for a given scientific question
e.g. , experimental,
field based or pattern seeking.