scholarly journals Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science and Its Relationship to Classroom Practice

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 131-144
Author(s):  
Katherine Pilongo Caga-anan ◽  
John Mitchell O’Toole
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Service Science ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
Teachers And Students

There are significant tensions regarding relative international educational effectiveness. In the science education field, such concerns churn around the extent of scientific understanding with which students leave school. There have been suggestions that this aspect of science literacy is related to how well teachers help students to understand the nature of science. Previous research indicates the existence of both naïve and sophisticated views of this among both teachers and students. However, little research exists regarding Filipino students preparing to teach science in a local and international fluid context, particularly how their views of the nature of science relate to their classroom teaching practices. It was the purpose of this qualitative study involving seven pre-service science teachers from a single institution in Mindanao, Republic of the Philippines, to better understand the relationship of teacher views of the nature of science and the way that they taught science during their final teaching practice. Data was gathered through non-participant class observations, documents, interviews, and survey analysis. Findings reveal that: (a) These pre-service science teachers hold a mixture of naïve and sophisticated views of the nature of science; (b) Their views of science as empirically based (a potentially sophisticated view), subject to strict method and producing absolute knowledge (naïve views) transferred into their planning and delivery of practice lessons to a minor but discernible extent; (c) The views of science emerging from interview and survey were more varied and more sophisticated than appeared from the lessons planned or observed. The implications of this study are significant because they support some indications in the literature that wider teacher conceptions can translate into practice. This suggests that change in the conceptions held by these teachers might lead to change in the experiences they offer to students in their classes. The research process piloted in this small study could be scaled up to make a useful contribution to science education as the nation for which it was contexted moves into a period of rapid curriculum change.

scholarly journals A Study on Demonstration of the Nature of Science in Science Textbooks: History and Philosophy of Science Perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Ayık ◽  
B. Coştu
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Service Science ◽  
Science Content ◽  
Science Textbooks ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Positive Effect

Many scholars in the teaching of science put forth that the perennial target of science education is to teach the nature of science (NOS), and science textbooks play a crucial role in the teaching of the nature of science (NOS). Understanding the nature of science is said to be effective when both understanding science concepts and doing science. Numerous studies focus on the teaching of NOS. This study investigates the effect of a science content that is prepared in history and philosophy of science (HPS) perspective on the NOSunderstandings of pre-service science teachers. 34 sophomore pre-service science teachers participated in the study. The quasi-experimental method was used by employing a pre-test, an intervention, and a post-test which is the same as the pre-test. The intervention involved the presentation of science content from the HPS perspective in six weeks long of discussions. Data were collected through a survey that revealed categorical views regarding the characteristics of the NOS. The results showed that the demonstration of atom theories in the HPS perspective gave a positive effect on the pre-service science teachers in understanding the NOS.

scholarly journals Nature of Science (NOS) Being Acquainted with Science of Science (SoS): Providing a Panoramic Picture of Sciences to Embody NOS for Pre-Service Teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Ismo T. Koponen
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Science Teacher ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Science Teacher Education ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Service Science ◽  
Science Of Science ◽  
Structure And Dynamics

Understanding about nature of science is important topic in science education as well as in pre-service science teacher education. In science education, Nature of Science (NOS), in its different forms of educational scaffoldings, seeks to provide with students an understanding of features of scientific knowledge and science in general, how scientific knowledge changes and becomes accepted, and what factors guide scientific activities. For a science teacher, deep and broad enough picture of sciences is therefore of importance. This study attempts to show that the research field called Science of Science (SoS) can significantly support building such a panoramic picture of sciences, and through that, significantly support NOS. The SoS approaches the structure and dynamics of science quantitatively, using scientific documents (e.g., publications, reports, books and monographs and patent applications) as trails to map the landscape of sciences. It is argued here that SoS may provide material and interesting cases for NOS, and in so doing enrich NOS in a similarly significant way as history, philosophy and sociology of science (HPSS) scholarship has done thus far. This study introduces several themes based on SoS that are of relevance for NOS as they were introduced and discussed in a pre-service science teachers’ course. The feedback from pre-service teachers shows that introducing SoS, with minimal additional philosophical interpretations and discussions, but simply as evidential facts and findings, sparks ideas and views that come very close to NOS themes and topics. Discussions related to nature of science, and specific educational NOS scaffoldings for it, can find a good companion in SoS; the latter providing facts and evidence of thee structure and dynamics of sciences, the former providing perspectives for interpretations.

Beliefs of preschool teacher candidates about the nature of science

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 774-783
Author(s):  
Güzin Özyılmaz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Preschool Teacher ◽  
Spring Semester ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Aim Of Science ◽  
Academic Year

The aim of science education is to enable children to become “science-literate.” Science literacy is defined as taking responsibility for and making decisions about situations requiring scientific understanding and having sufficient knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding of values to put their decisions into practice. Revealing teachers’ beliefs can help to understand the types of experiences presented by teachers in their classrooms. Inadequate understandings and misbeliefs of teachers shape the first perceptions of children about the NOS when they are formally introduced with science education in their early childhood. Most of the studies were also performed with science teachers and there have been few studies conducted with preschool teachers. Therefore, the present study was directed towards determining NOS beliefs of preschool teacher candidates. To achieve this aim, Nature of Science Beliefs Scale (NOSBS), developed by Özcan and Turgut (2014), was administered to the preschool teacher candidates studying in Preschool Education Department of Buca Education Faculty at Dokuz Eylül University in the spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. In the study, the NOS beliefs of the teacher candidates were found to be acceptable in general. While the findings of this study are consistent with those revealed in several relevant studies in the literature

Exploring Pre-service Science Teachers’ Perspectives on the Nature of Science: A Comparative Study Between China and Canada

2021 ◽  
pp. 209653112096678
Author(s):  
Guihua Zhang ◽  
Yuanrong Li ◽  
George Zhou ◽  
Sonia Wai-Ying Ho
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Science Teacher ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Science Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching Behaviors ◽  
Preservice Science Teachers

Purpose: The Nature of Science (NOS) is an important component of scientific literacy. Science teachers’ Views of the Nature of Science (VNOS) directly affect their teaching behaviors. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore science teachers’ VNOS and find ways of improvement. This study was designed to comparatively investigate preservice science teachers’ VNOS between China and Canada. Design/Approach/Methods: The study employed a survey design to explore how Chinese and Canadian preservice science teachers understood the seven different aspects of NOS. Findings: Data showed that preservice science teachers in China and Canada both hold a modern view about science education. The level of Chinese and Canadian participants’ understanding of NOS was above the relatively naive level. Chinese teachers had better macro-understanding toward science education but their micro-mastery was insufficient. While the Canadian participants had a better understanding of the NOS than their Chinese counterparts. Originality/Value: Based on the research results and the experience of science education and teacher education in Canada, we suggested that there is a need to reconstruct the preservice science teacher education curriculum in China and promote the transformation in the science teacher educational system.

scholarly journals DO LABORATORY ACTIVITIES CONTRIBUTE TO A CONTEMPORARY CONCEPTION OF SCIENCE IN INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING?

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (32) ◽  
pp. 983-995
Author(s):  
K. VALENCIA ◽  
V. SANJOSÉ ◽  
T. TORRES
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Service Science ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Laboratory Activities ◽  
Science Teacher Training ◽  
Undergraduate Programs

In this study, It was analyzed the implementation of laboratory activities in the pre-service science teacher’s training and how they contribute to the construction of a contemporary epistemic vision of the nature of science. A cross-sectional study was developed in two different undergraduate programs of pre-service science teacher training in a university in Colombia of. We analyzed the way laboratory activities are developed in nine science subjects of physics, chemistry, and biology, apart from the first to the eight semesters of the curriculum (10 semesters in total). Results indicate that the laboratory activities focused on the development of pre-defined techniques and procedures, giving little prominence to creativity, doubt, discussion, planning, and application, even though they are also characteristic activities of scientific work. This kind of laboratory activities does not seem to favor th e construction of a contemporary conception of the nature of science in future science teachers.

scholarly journals Conceptions of science teachers about the use of ICT in teaching practice

2019 ◽  
pp. 58-71
Author(s):  
Maria Inês Ribas Rodrigues ◽  
Ludmylla Ribeiro Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
School Science ◽  
Information And Communication

This qualitative study was carried out in two public schools located in the city of São Paulo, SP, Brazil, and involved two primary school science teachers (one from each school). Its objective was to discuss the relevance of continuing education of Science teachers with the emphasis on the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in their teaching practice, the challenges faced by the insertion of these technological resources in the school environment, and improvements in school facilities. These aspects guide the need for training that prepares the teacher to deal with this type of situation. Data collection was done through the application of two interviews, at different moments of the research. These results were presented at an international event, Enseñanza de las Ciencias 2017, and we were able to observe the difference of realities between the science education in developed countries and noted the relevance of discussing this topic in the context of science teaching in Brazil.   Keywords: Teaching practice; Challenges in Science Education; Information and Communication Technologies.

scholarly journals Exploring How Research Experiences For Teachers Changes Their Understandings Of The Nature Of Science And Scientific Inquiry

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanlyn R. Buxner
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Informal Science Education ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Research Experiences For Teachers

<p>The nature of science is a prevalent theme across United States national science education standards and frameworks as well as other documents that guide formal and informal science education reform. To support teachers in engaging their students in authentic scientific practices and reformed teaching strategies, research experiences for teachers offered in national laboratories, university research centers, and national field-sites promise opportunities to help teachers update their current understanding of STEM fields and experience firsthand how scientific research is conducted with the end goal of supporting more inquiry-based teaching approaches in their classrooms. This qualitative interpretive study used an adapted Views of Nature of Science and Views on Scientific Inquiry surveys and protocols to investigate changes in 43 practicing teachers understandings about the nature of science and scientific inquiry as a result of participation in one of three summer science research programs. Each program provided participants with research experiences alongside professional researchers as well as activities intended to increase participants abilities to provide inquiry-based science learning activities for their students. Data were collected using open-ended surveys pre-program, post-program and long-term follow-up surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, along with researchers observations and field-notes. Participation in these programs led to small, measurable enhancements in teachers understandings of scientific inquiry and the nature of science. Teachers prior experience with research was found to have the strongest relationship to their knowledge of the nature of science and scientific inquiry. The data in this study provides evidence that research experiences can provide valuable experiences to support teachers improved knowledge of how science is conducted.</p>

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