The difference between "learning about science" and figuring out how and/or why something works

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The difference between "learning about science" and figuring out how and/or why something works

Amanda Buck
What do you see as the difference between “learning about” a science idea and “figuring out how and/or why” something works (in science)? Learning about a science idea is more about memorizing concepts and facts. Figuring out how and/or why something works in science means using phenomena as the starting point of learning. We use the phenomena to raise questions to try and understand.

Which of these two ideas (learning about or figuring things out) best represents the most recent research on how students learn science today?  Figuring things out best represents the most recent research on how students learn science today.

Why might the idea of "figuring things out" be included in a section on "How Students Learn Science"?  Support your answer/argument with examples and/or evidence. This is included because students are motivated by first being presented with a phenomena because they want to figure out what it means. Then they will continue to return to the phenomena as they learn more about the science behind it so students are applying science knowledge as they are building it.