Developing deeper understandings of nature of science: the impact of a philosophy of science course on preservice science teachers’ views and instructional planning

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the influence of a philosophy of science (POS) course on science teachers’ views of nature of science (NOS), perceptions of teaching about NOS, and instructional planning related to NOS. Participants were 56 undergraduate and graduate preservice secondary science teachers enrolled in a two science‐methods course sequence, in which participants received explicit, reflective NOS instruction. Ten of these participants were also enrolled in a graduate survey POS course. The Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire — Form C coupled with individual interviews was used to assess participants’ NOS views at the beginning and conclusion of the study. Participants’ lesson plans and NOS‐specific reflection papers were analysed to assess the impact of the POS course on their instructional planning related to, and perceptions of teaching about, NOS. Results indicated that, compared with participants enrolled in the methods courses, the POS course participants developed deeper, more coherent understandings of NOS. Substantially more of these latter participants planned explicit instructional sequences to teach about NOS. Additionally, the POS course participants’ discourse regarding NOS progressed from a preoccupation with the technical, to a concern with the practical, and, finally, to a focus on the emancipatory. Their views of teaching about NOS in their future classrooms went beyond the customary discourse of whether pre‐college students should or could be taught about NOS, to contemplating changes they needed to bring about in their own teaching behaviour and language to achieve consistency with their newly acquired NOS understandings.