Elementary Teachers’ Views on the Nature of Scientific Knowledge: A Comparison of Inservice and Preservice Teachers

Abstract

Nature of science (NOS) refers to the epistemology of science including values and beliefs inherent in science and its development through scientific inquiry.  This study examined the differential views on NOS between 348 inservice and 110 preservice elementary teachers, measured by a survey instrument, adopted from the Student Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry instrument.  Four distinctive scales showed reasonable reliability.  It also examined whether preservice teachers' views of NOS change after a science methods class that focuses on inquiry-based science instruction.  Preservice teachers before the class did not have different NOS views from inservice teachers.  However, after the class, preservice teachers showed significant changes in their views on NOS and their views were significantly different from those of inservice teachers.  Inservice teachers' NOS views were not influenced by their preference of teaching science or their experience teaching science using science kits.