A science teacher’s complex beliefs about nature of scientific inquiry

Birgitte Bjønness,Erik Knain

doi:10.5617/nordina.2676

Abstract

One major concern relating to teaching scientific inquiry is that many teachers show epistemologically naive beliefs about nature of science (NOS). In this study, we use in-depth interviews to identify an upper secondary science teacher’s beliefs about NOS and scientific inquiry in school. We found that what seemed to be a teacher’s positivist position was embedded in broader concerns regarding pedagogical considerations and personal engagement relating to the students. This broader ecology of a teacher’s beliefs enabled us to understand why positivist epistemology and related myths concerning NOS are seemingly robust in school versions of scientific inquiry. We suggest that implications for science teacher education and professional development are that teacher (students) need opportunities for guided reflections on personal experiences and commitments towards scientific inquiry to increase conscience with respect to how they might affect their situated practice.

Highlights

Reforms in science education all over the world advocate a view of teaching and learning science that emphasises inquiry to learn about nature of science (NOS) and increase interest in science (e.g., European Commission, 2007; Quinn, Schweingruber, & Keller, 2012)
The following three dimensions were found through the analysis to account for Amir’s espoused beliefs: (1) open inquiry as a way to motivate students and oppose rote learning, (2) nature as wonder as well as source of knowledge by individual observation and (3) scientific inquiry as a simple stepby-step method
It is well known that teachers may hold beliefs about NOS and scientific inquiry that are at odds with tenets found in the research literature, and that these beliefs are important they may not be consistent with what is observed in teachers’ practices

Summary

Introduction

Reforms in science education all over the world advocate a view of teaching and learning science that emphasises inquiry to learn about nature of science (NOS) and increase interest in science (e.g., European Commission, 2007; Quinn, Schweingruber, & Keller, 2012). One of the major concerns is that many science teachers show epistemological naïve views about NOS (Bryan, 2012; Hodson, 2009; Lederman & Lederman, 2012). A science teacher’s complex beliefs about nature of scientific inquiry dents’ learning environment, the desired change in school science depends heavily upon teachers’ capacity to integrate the epistemology and practices of a reform with their beliefs and existing practices (Bryan, 2012). The wanted change put forward by curricula reforms, putting emphasis on scientific inquiry and NOS in school science might be difficult to effect in practice. In this article we seek to explore a science teacher’s beliefs about NOS and how they connect with various beliefs concerning teaching and learning in a situated practice of scientific inquiry

Methods

Results

Conclusion