Science Teachers’ Conception Of Nature Of Science: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Achievement of scientific literacy is one of the major goals of science education. Nature of Science plays a critical role in achievement of scientific literacy. Teachers are vital component in achieving this goal. Improvements in NOS conceptions of students is largely dependent on how the teachers understand the concepts of NOS. The purpose of this study was to assess the teachers’ conception of NOS. This study used qualitative descriptive research design. This design was used for description of the phenomenon. Participants were selected purposefully on the basis of their subject teaching, qualification and participation in professional development programs. Teachers’ NOS views were collected through open ended questionnaire VNOS followed by semi structure interviews. Data collected through open ended questionnaires and interviews were analyzed by organizing the responses in themes and subthemes by initial coding followed by focused coding. Findings of the study depicted that the participants do not have informed conceptions of NOS. The most frequent misconceptions were that there is a single step by step scientific method, experimentation is always required for science, creativity is not used and culture do not play any role in science. The misconceptions highlighted in this study can be utilized in developing training and development initiatives by education authorities.