ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the following question is answered: “what is science thinking?” First, I define what I mean by the word “understanding.” Specifically, I detail the three-legged stool that props up understanding: knowing, doing, and thinking. Then, I look at students’ views about science and their fundamental epistemologies when it comes to learning science. I compare these views to those held by experts. I discuss the research literature on scientific thinking, how it’s informed by scientists’ views about the nature of science, and define specific science thinking patterns. Finally, I describe how the thinking patterns of the expert scientist weave into the science process.
