The Nature of Science or the Nature of Teachers: Beginning Science Teachers’ Understanding of NOS

Abstract

This study examines the impact of different induction programs and preservice demographic factors on beginning secondary science teachers’ understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS). The teachers were all secondary science teachers from the Midwest or Southwest regions of the United States. As part of a larger study, all teachers were followed for 3 years and were interviewed prior to their first year of teaching and at the end of each academic year in the classroom. A modified version of the VNOS-C was used to assess the teachers’ understanding of NOS. The analysis of the data revealed that the highest degree that a teacher held prior to teaching, the content area of a teacher’s college degree, the number of History and Philosophy of Science classes that a teacher took prior to teaching, and the gender of a teacher all had a significant effect over time on a teacher’s understanding of NOS.