Evidence-Based Education and Beyond: The Critical Role of Theory in Science Education Research and Practice

Abstract

Evidence-based education has become a central concept in science education, with meta-analyses often regarded as the gold standard for informing practice. This emphasis raises critical questions concerning the applicability, generalizability and transferability of research findings into classroom practice. It remains unclear both what kind of evidence education should be based on and whether science education research can provide the type of evidence required to guide decisions at different levels. This paper argues that theories play a crucial role in building bridges between research and practice. Drawing on literature from science education and the philosophy of science, we contrast the explanatory scope of meta-analyses with the predictive and integrative potential of theories, understood in a structuralist sense as systems of models with defined domains of applicability. We propose that science education research requires both fundamental and applied research, each contributing to theory development at different levels, ranging from local and context-specific models to more fundamental theoretical frameworks. Importantly, we argue that theories in science education should not be viewed merely as applications of psychological or pedagogical theories, but as fundamental theories in their own right. We conclude that the future development of science education research may benefit more from the systematic refinement and integration of theories than from the continued accumulation of isolated local findings, and we propose ways to support the development of such theories. A theory-guided understanding of evidence-based education can strengthen the scientific foundations of the field while simultaneously enhancing its practical relevance, thereby helping to narrow the long-standing theory-practice gap.