Abstract:
A fundamental objective of science education is to provide students with the level of scientific literacy necessary to participate in a society increasingly dependent on science and technology. Central to definitions of this scientific literacy is an appreciation of the nature of science (NOS). The purpose of the research project was to identify the understandings of NOS of a cohort of practising primary and early childhood teachers, enrolled in a semester long science course as part of a Bachelor of Education degree. The research sought to examine their initial NOS understandings and mapped these understandings over the duration of the course in order to identify shifts in understanding and aspects of NOS resistant to change. The research was embedded in critical social science methodology. An explicit reflective approach was used throughout the course instruction to teach NOS tenets. Two frameworks were developed to analyse the data gathered, a myths framework and a NOS framework. Analysis of the pre-instruction views showed that the teachers initial understandings of NOS were fragmented, lacking in depth, inconsistent, fluid and revealed many myths of NOS. Over the duration of the course the teachers journals showed shifts in understanding: NOS tenets were more frequently expressed; there was an increase in the complexity of expression; and an increase in the integration or interrelatedness of NOS tenets. Factors which contributed to these shifts in understanding included the use of an explicit approach, consistency between explicit and implicit instruction, reflection, a conceptual change approach and the use of generic science-content-free NOS activities throughout the course. These findings suggest a need for NOS to be addressed in both pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher professional development programmes. The research has indicated that an explicit, reflective teaching approach is pedagogically effective for this need.