Abstract
This research explored a program designed to serve K-6 teachers in sustained professional development to improve their understandings of nature of science (NOS) and scientific modeling. Data sources included pre- and post-views of nature of science version-B (VNOS-B) surveys and interviews (Lederman, Abd-El-Khalick, Bell, & Schwartz, Journal of Research in Science Teaching 39(6):497–521, 2002) and scientific modeling surveys (Van Driel & Verloop, International Journal of Science Education 21(11):1141–1153, 1999) and field notes of professional development sessions. The professional development institute included explicit reflective instruction on NOS (Lederman, Journal of Research in Science Teaching 29:331–359, 1992), scientific modeling (Van Driel & Verloop, International Journal of Science Education 24:1255–1272, 2002), and authentic inquiry practices (Hitt & Townsend, Science Teacher, 29–31, 2004). The results indicated an improvement in elementary teachers’ understandings of NOS and scientific modeling and highlighted several connections they made to their NOS conceptions and understandings of scientific modeling. We found that the teachers began to make explicit connections between NOS aspects and different types of scientific models and the purposes they serve.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call