Ontological orientations of educators’ sense of the atom and underlying source domains: a case study of Kotebe Metropolitan University, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study aimed to uncover the ontological orientations of educators’ sense of the atom of Kotebe Metropolitan University (KMU), Ethiopia. Thus, an interpretative case study design was employed, with the analytic approach of grounded theory, due to the importance of atomic ontology as a case and the need for an in-depth analysis of their thinking and possible interpretations. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview of eight chemistry educators of the university and coded using Charmaz's approach to coding. The History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) was employed for identifying and sorting the data into the ontological categories, while the theory of experientialism (ToE) was used for locating source domains. Consequently, the interpretative ontological view was traced with two atomic notions: the functional and chemical atomic notions. This means that the educators do believe in the existence of the atom in the interpretative way in which their knowledge is well informed by interpretations and inferences of the experimental evidence and applications of quantum mechanics. However, their narrative lacks some essential priori philosophical arguments and scientific contexts and evidence. As a result, this ‘the latest is the best’ thinking pattern was traced as a major source domain to which the interpretative orientation is attributed.