Understanding the Process and Conditions That Improve Preservice Teachers’ Conceptions of Nature of Science in Real Contexts (original) (raw)
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A Critical Review of Students’ and Teachers’ Understandings of Nature of Science
Science & Education, 2019
There is widespread agreement that an adequate understanding of the nature of science (NOS) is a critical component of scientific literacy and a major goal in science education. However, we still do not know many specific details regarding how students and teachers learn particular aspects of NOS and what are the most important feature traits of instruction. In this context, the main objective of this review is to analyze articles from nine main science education journals that consider the teaching of NOS to K-12 students, pre-service, and in-service science teachers in search of patterns in teaching and learning NOS. After reviewing 52 studies in nine journals that included data regarding participants' views of NOS before and after an intervention, the main findings were as follows: (1) some aspects of NOS (empirical basis, observation and inference, and creativity) are easier to learn than others (tentativeness, theory and law, and social and cultural embeddedness), and subjective aspects of NOS and "the scientific method" seemed to be difficult for participants to understand; (2) the interventions most frequently lasted 5 to 8 weeks for students, one semester for pre-service teachers, and 1 year for experienced teachers; and (3) most of the interventions incorporated both decontextualized and contextualized activities. Given the substantial diversity in the methods and intervention designs used and the variables studied, it was not possible to infer a pattern of more-effective NOS teaching strategies from the reviewed studies. Future investigation should focus on (a) disentangling whether a difference exists between the easy and difficult aspects of learning NOS and formulating a theoretical explanation for distinguishing the two types of aspects and (b) assessing the effectiveness of different kinds of courses (e.g., history of science, NOS or informal) and strategies (e.g., hands-on vs. drama activities; SSI vs. HOS). Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Improving science teachers' conceptions of nature of science: a critical review of the literature
International Journal of Science Education, 2000
This paper aimed to review, and assess the 'effectiveness' of the attempts undertaken to improve prospective and practising science teachers' conceptions of nature of science (NOS). The reviewed attempts could be categorized into two general approches: implicit and explicit. Implicit attempts utilized science process-skills instruction or engagement in science-based inquiry activities to improve science teachers' conceptions of NOS. To achieve the same goal, explicit attempts used instruction geared towards various aspects of NOS and/or instruction that utilized elements from history and philosophy of science. To the extent that teachers' NOS conceptions were faithfully assessed by the instruments used in the reviewed studies, the explicit approach was relatively more effective in enhancing teachers' views. The relative ineffectiveness of the implicit approach could be attributed to two inherent assumptions. The first is that developing an understanding of NOS is an 'affective', as compared to a 'cognitive', learning outcome. The second ensuing assumption is that learners would necessarily develop understandings of NOS as a by-product of engaging in science-realated activities. However, despite the relative 'effectiveness' of the explicit approach, much is still required in terms of fostering among science teachers 'desired' understandings of NOS. The paper emphasizes that explicitness and reflectivness should be given prominence in any future attempts aimed at improving
Science Education, 2004
Reform efforts emphasize teaching science to promote contemporary views of the nature of science (NOS) and scientific inquiry. Within the framework of situated cognition, the assertion is that engagement in inquiry activities similar to those of scientists provides a learning context conducive to developing knowledge about the methods and activities through which science progresses, and, in turn, to developing desired views of NOS. The inclusion of a scientific inquiry context to teach about NOS has intuitive appeal. Yet, whether the learners are students, teachers, or scientists, the empirical research does not generally support the claim that engaging in scientific inquiry alone enhances conceptions of NOS. We studied developments in NOS conceptions during a
Case Studies of Future Science Teacher Educators' Learning about Nature of Science
2008
Research emphasizes requirements of nature of science [NOS] knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, internalized beliefs in the importance of NOS, and intentional translation of this knowledge into explicit/reflective classroom instruction. For systemic reform, graduate programs in science education need to provide learning opportunities for future educational scholars and teacher educators that address concepts for science literacy. Yet, a gap exists in the literature with respect to understanding how science educators come to their own understanding of NOS, NOS research, and NOS teaching. This study describes experiences of five science education graduate students' learning about NOS content, pedagogy and research during the first two years of their graduate program. We explore key turning points as they developed personal orientations toward NOS. The participants are culturally diverse, representing five different countries. The change in perspectives experienced by these students was multifaceted. Motivation for learning NOS shifted from primarily external sources such as course requirements, to internal factors relating to goals as a science educator. Personal motivations/orientations were especially instrumental regarding perceived value of NOS to science learners globally. Critical appraisals of self and learners, and goals as future science educators appeared to be substantial contributing factors in internalizing the value of NOS as science content. Moreover, these factors aided in sustaining tenacity with planning, implementing, and reflecting on NOS teaching within science content courses. Establishing a consistent NOS focus throughout graduate programs; providing multiple exposures, requirements, and supports; and building upon students' internal motivations for science education are recommended for enabling future science educators to bring to bear NOS literacy goals.
Developing and acting upon one's conception of the nature of science: A follow‐up study
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2000
This study aimed to delineate the factors mediating the translation of preservice teachers' conceptions of the nature of science into instructional planning and classroom practice. Additionally, the study assessed the in¯uence of temporally separating teaching preservice teachers about the nature of science and teaching them how to address it instructionally. This latter intervention was based on the results of a previous investigation. Prior to student teaching, the 13 participants responded to an open-ended questionnaire designed to assess conceptions of the nature of science. Throughout student teaching, daily lesson plans, classroom videotapes, portfolios, and supervisors' weekly clinical observation notes were collected and searched for explicit instances of nature of science planning and/or instruction. Following student teaching, participants were interviewed to validate their responses to the open-ended questionnaire, identify factors that mediate the translation of their conceptions of the nature of science into classroom teaching, and explicate their pedagogical preferences for teaching the nature of science. Participants possessed adequate understanding of several aspects of the nature of science and, contrary to the results of the earlier investigation, most did not con¯ate the nature of science with science processes. Furthermore, several participants explicitly addressed some aspects of the nature of science during classroom instruction. Participants, however, failed to include the nature of science among their instructional objectives and did not make a concerted effort to assess student understandings. ß