The Development of Nature of Science Understandings Questionnaire within Associated Approaches

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Y

63

Scientific Principles; Test Construction; Questionnaires; Preservice Teachers; Science Teachers; Knowledge Level; Science Education; Science and Society; Holistic Approach

10.1007/s11191-022-00357-9

0926-7220
1573-1901

This study aimed to develop a Nature of Science Understandings Questionnaire within Associated Approaches (NoSQ-AA) by discussing "consensus view" of the teaching of nature of science (NoS) in light of critiques and suggestions. The second purpose of this paper was to evaluate pre-service science teachers (PSSTs)' nature of science understandings by using the developed instrument. Firstly, we examined the NoS approaches that have been proposed as options to the consensus view. We investigated the points at which approaches intersect and diverge from each other. Then, we incorporated the components of associated approaches under Reconceptualized Family Resemblance Approach to NoS (RFN) umbrella, which is the most detailed and developed for use in science education. Secondly, we developed 17 open-ended questions related to various contemporary socioscientific issues for the instrument and a holistic rubric to evaluate the PSST's NoS understandings. The instrument was applied to sixty-eight 3rd PSSTs. The NoSQ-AA instrument evaluated the functional (reflective-interpretive) understandings of PSSTs on contemporary socioscientific issues rather than the declarative statements about NoS. We conducted consistency analysis considering the coding (86%) and the scoring (92%) of the PSSTs' responses. The results of the study indicated that PSSTs' NoS understandings were high; however, they expressed the social-institutional aspect less than cognitive-epistemic aspects of science in their responses. Besides, the categorical analysis of the responses demonstrated that two more categories titled "technology" and "social effects" can be included in associated NoS approaches. The findings indicate that measuring NoS understanding using the NoSQ-AA offers a holistic view of NoS and the relationship between science, technology, and society.

As Provided

2023

EJ1383386