Science Teachers’ Knowledge About Learning and Teaching Models and Modeling in Public Understanding of Science

Abstract

Models play a central role in science education. Traditionally, the focus is on the content of the models being taught and learned, and little explicit attention is devoted to the nature and characteristics of scientific models. The introduction of public understanding of science in the Dutch education system aimed a shift from the transmission of existing knowledge to the understanding of the development and the role of models in science. In this study, we explored the developing knowledge about learning and teaching models and modeling of nine science teachers in the first year of teaching this syllabus. In addition, we examined their developing pedagogical content knowledge of a specific topic in the syllabus, namely, Models of the Solar System and the Universe. For this purpose, we applied the rep grid method and a semi-structured interview, in three subsequent years. In contrast to previous research on science teachers’ knowledge about the use of models and modeling in learning science, it was found that modeling as a learning activity for students and activities with regard to reflection on the nature of models were not unusual in the teaching practice of the participants in our study. The development of the teachers’ knowledge, over the years, can be characterized by either an expansion or an endorsement of initial ideas and perceptions.