English

Washington T Dudu

doi:10.15700/201412120937

Abstract

The paper explores conceptions of the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI) held by five teachers who were purposively and conveniently sampled. Teachers’ conceptions of the NOSI were determined using a Probes questionnaire. To confirm teachers’ responses, a semi-structured interview was conducted with each teacher. The Probes questionnaire was based on six tenets of the nature of scientific inquiry but only three tenets are presented in this paper, namely: (1) scientists use a variety of methods to conduct scientific investigations; (2) scientific knowledge is socially and culturally embedded; and (3) scientific knowledge is partly the product of human creativity and imagination. The study found that the teachers held mixed NOSI conceptions. These conceptions were fluid and lacked coherence, ranging from static, empiricist-aligned to dynamic, constructivist-oriented conceptions. Although all participants expressed some views that were consistent with current, acceptable conceptions of NOSI, some held inadequate (naive) views on the crucial three NOSI tenets. The significance of this study rests in recommending explicit teaching of NOSI during pre-service and in-service training which enables teachers to possess informed conceptions about NOSI. With these informed conceptions, teachers may internalise the instructional importance of the NOSI which, in turn, may help avoid the lack of attention to NOSI currently evidenced in teachers’ instructional decisions. This might result in teachers’ orientations shifting towards an explicit inquiry-based approach from that of an implicit science process and discovery approach.

Highlights

During the last three decades, the science education community has established a research agenda calling for more studies focused on teachers’ conceptions of the nature of scientific inquiry (Keys & Bryan, 2001; Schwartz, Lederman & Lederman, 2008)
Given that teachers do not teach what they do not know (Keys & Bryan, 2001), what conceptions are teachers passing on to learners about the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI)? Another question is; Do South African teachers’ hold valid conceptions of the NOSI? Because little is known about how teachers conceptualise inquiry, how these conceptions are formed and reinforced (Windschitl, 2004), this study addresses this omission, charting the line of research pursued in this study as a foray into relatively virgin land in the South African context
Dudu five teachers agreed on the three aspects of the NOSI, whilst one teacher disagreed with the rest

Summary

Introduction

During the last three decades, the science education community has established a research agenda calling for more studies focused on teachers’ conceptions of the nature of scientific inquiry (Keys & Bryan, 2001; Schwartz, Lederman & Lederman, 2008). Of critical importance were teachers’ level of experience, intentions and perceptions of students Given these findings, conceptions were consistent with previous research (Abd-El-Khalick et al, 1998; Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 1998; Lederman, 1992). This may help avoid the lack of attention to NOSI evidenced in teachers’ instructional decisions (Duschl & Wright, 1989; Faikhamta, 2013; Lederman & Latz, 1995). It may facilitate focusing teachers’ intentions on promoting learners’ understanding of NOSI. For this to be done, the starting point would be ascertaining the NOSI conceptions teachers currently harbour. With in-service training leading to teachers better understanding NOSI and having conceptions consistent with contemporary constructivist views, their orientations might shift from an implicit science process and discovery approach towards an explicit inquiry-based approach

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion