The conceptual and epistemological structure of a scientific discovery: reflections for science teaching

Abstract

This article seeks to clarify the conceptual and epistemological structure of a scientific discovery in order to oppose the dichotomy between the contexts of discovery and justification, long perpetuated in the scientific sphere. It presents the weights of Hanson, Kuhn and Kipnis on this topic. In science education, discussions about a discovery process are rarely available. This way are usually disseminated several inappropriate images of science. An analysis of the discovery terminology in textbooks approved in PNLD/2012 shows the science conceptions that can be transmitted when those are used in teaching, broadly and inadvertently this termination. Finally, seek to argue that the context of discovery has complex and logic elements, and is intrinsically related to the context of justification.