Nature of Science: Examining Science Teachers' Knowledge and Their Instructional Practices

Edith Cowan University. Bradford Street, Mount Lawley, West Australia 6050, Australia. Web site: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/

Y

18

Scientific Literacy; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Science Teachers; Teaching Methods; Faculty Development; Teacher Attitudes; Secondary School Teachers; Graduate Study; Teacher Education; Foreign Countries

0313-5373
1835-517X

This case study focused on a university teacher-education course that included NOS content. An adapted questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data on 83 secondary science teachers' views about three NOS themes before and after completing the course. Qualitative data were collected from eight of the teachers who were observed teaching during their field experience after completing the course. The teachers' post-course mean NOS scores were statistically significantly higher than their pre-course scores (t (65) =-10.08, p<0.001; Cohen's d = 1.4). Despite the favourable NOS knowledge among the science teachers, low levels of NOS portrayal were observed in their instructional practices. These findings point to some success in explicitly addressing NOS in science education content courses. However, they raise questions about the transferability of teachers' NOS knowledge into their classrooms. The findings have implications for teacher-preparation programmes regarding durability of NOS knowledge.

As Provided

2023

EJ1403341