Improving science teachers' conceptions of nature of science: a critical review of the literature (original) (raw)
Related papers
TEACHERS' UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF SCIENCE
This review paper on teachers " understanding of the nature of science focuses on the historical perspectives of science that underpin current theories on the nature of science in an educational context.It examines what research has been done in this field and what it has shown, and looks at the future of the nature of science in science curricula while examining possible ways forward for research in this field.
This paper is a review of literature on assessment of, and attempt to improve the nature of science (NOS) conception of science teachers for the last 64 years. Most of the researchers in the 20 th century used the quantitative approach to assess NOS conception of science teachers. However recent researchers in this 21 st century (last ten years) are using both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. There is basically two approaches used to improve the NOS of science teachers, that is 'implicit' and the 'explicit' approaches. Most researchers argue that explicit approach is more effective than implicit approach in improving NOS of science teachers. However recently some researchers are beginning to argue that, it is better to use both the implicit and explicit approaches concurrently in order to improve the NOS conception of science teachers.
Improving Students’ Conceptions of Nature of Science: A Review of the Literature
Science & Education
The goal of all reform documents in science education is to target scientific literacy. Toward that end, having students understand the nature of science (NOS) is a critical component. As it turns out, the development of NOS conceptions is a cognitive learning outcome. Therefore, an explicit approach needs to be promoted and emphasized in the classrooms to address students' conceptions of NOS. At the same time, the development of NOS conceptions among learners is context dependent. Consequently, different learning frameworks might influence the NOS conceptions of learners in various ways. There are several frameworks to contextualize NOS instruction in relation to three different contexts: history of science (HOS), scientific inquiry (SI), and socioscientific issues (SSI). As such, the aim of this study was to review studies on NOS instruction, categorize the reviewed studies into different contexts, and investigate the effect of these different contexts on the improvement in students' conceptions of NOS. As a conclusion, implications for future research and classroom practice related to the explicit teaching about NOS in these contexts were discussed.
International Journal of Scientific Research in Education, 2019
This paper is a review of literature on assessment of, and attempt to improve the nature of science (NOS) conception of science teachers for the last 64 years. Most of the researchers in the 20th century used the quantitative approach to assess NOS conception of science teachers. However recent researchers in this 21st century (last ten years) are using both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. There is basically two approaches used to improve the NOS of science teachers, that is ‘implicit’ and the ‘explicit’ approaches. Most researchers argue that explicit approach is more effective than implicit approach in improving NOS of science teachers. However recently some researchers are beginning to argue that, it is better to use both the implicit and explicit approaches concurrently in order to improve the NOS conception of science teachers.
Influence of Teachers’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science on Classroom Practice
EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education
Whether teachers' conceptions of NOS are reflected in their instructional planning and classroom practice remains an important research question. Consequently, this study investigated teachers' NOS views and their relationship to their classroom practice and delineated the factors that facilitate or impede this relationship. To achieve this, seven high school biology teachers with teaching credentials were selected to participate in this study. These teachers filled out an open-ended questionnaire entitled Views of the Nature of Science Questionnaire, participated in semi-structured interviews, were videotaped, and their lesson plans were collected. Results showed that most teachers do not possess appropriate NOS views, lesson plans lacked any planning for teaching NOS, and teachers' practices lacked any explicit reference to the aspects of NOS.
Teaching the nature of science: Practices and associated factors
This exploratory study investigated the extent and manner that former ISU-STEP students implemented the nature of science (NOS), and potential factors associated with their varying levels of NOS implementation. Thirteen teachers from the ISU-STEP participated in this study. All of the participants completed the nature of science in science education course at ISU, and were in at least in their second year of professional practice. A naturalistic inquiry approach was employed in this study and data sources included teaching observations, classroom artifacts, questionnaires, and interviews. Evidence from this study indicates factors associated with teachers' NOS implementation levels include their implementation of reform-based practices, self reflection abilities, considerations of how people learn, understanding of NOS teaching, perceived utility value for NOS teaching, level of responsibility to implement reform-based and NOS teaching practices, and coping strategies in response to teaching constraints. Furthermore, teachers who implemented the NOS at moderate or high levels interacted with one another forming a kind of informal support network which resulted in a higher level of responsibility to accurately and effectively teach the NOS. Recommendations for pre and inservice science teacher professional development include: (1) ensuring sufficient opportunities to understand and reflect upon the NOS and effective NOS teaching through focused coursework and practical experiences; (2) facilitating the internalization of the importance and utility value of NOS instruction; (3) explicitly addressing how to effectively cope with teaching constrains; and (4) facilitating the development of support networks and co-generated responsibility to teach the NOS. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The Nature of Science in Science Education The phrase-nature of science‖ (NOS) is commonly used in science education to describe the integration of philosophy, history, sociology, and psychology of science in order to understand the core values and assumptions found in the development of scientific knowledge (Lederman & Zeidler 1987, McComas et al., 1998). More specifically, people study the NOS to understand what science is, how it works, the epistemological and ontological foundations of science, how scientists interact socially, and the reciprocal role between science and society (Clough, 2006). For more than a century, the science education literature has noted the importance of the NOS in science literacy. In 1907, the scientific method was thought to be synonymous with an understanding of the NOS (Central Association for Science and Mathematics Teachers, 1907; Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 2000). In the 1960's and 1970's an increased emphasis on NOS themes such as inquiry, science process skills, and characteristics of scientific knowledge (e.g. science as tentative, public, a human endeavor, empirical) emerged in the literature base (Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 2000). More recently, science education reform documents have placed increasing importance on accurate and explicit NOS instruction in the classroom. Most notably, the
The analysis of how to improve student understanding of the nature of science: A role of teacher
Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 2006
Contents o Introduction o Background o Research indicate that teacher conceptions of NOS do not affect their instructional strategies that they use o Research indicate that teacher conceptions of NOS does affect instructional strategies that they use o Implications of desired teacher preparation and their instructional decisions designed to improve student views of NOS o References
Students' and teachers' conceptions of the nature of science: A review of the research
Journal of research in science teaching, 1992
The development of adequate student conceptions of the nature of science has been a perennial objective of science instruction regardless of the currently advocated pedagogical or curricular emphases. Consequently, it has been an area of prolific research characterized by several parallel, but distinct, lines of investigation. Although research related to students' and teachers' conceptions of the nature of science has been conducted for approximately 40 years, a comprehensive review of the empirical literature (both quantitative and qualitative) has yet to be presented. The overall purpose of this review is to help clarify what has been learned and to elucidate the basic assumptions and logic which have guided earlier research efforts. Ultimately, recommendations related to both methodology and the focus of future research are offered.