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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 10, Issue 1, Article 4
(June, 2009) |
Pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS: Scientific knowledge
The pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS regarding scientific knowledge are shown in Table I.
Table I Pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS: Scientific knowledge
Item
No.
Response
Number of respondents
1st year
2nd year
3rd year
4th year
5th year
1
Agree
6
1
3
1
2
Uncertain
10
5
9
9
4
Disagree
11
11
12
10
18
2
Agree
12
9
11
7
10
Uncertain
6
3
11
4
10
Disagree
9
5
2
9
4
3
Agree
19
14
18
20
19
Uncertain
8
2
5
0
3
Disagree
0
1
1
0
2
4
Agree
1
0
0
1
0
Uncertain
3
0
1
1
0
Disagree
23
17
23
18
24
8
Agree
21
12
21
16
20
Uncertain
4
3
3
3
4
Disagree
1
2
0
1
0
9
Agree
14
7
5
5
6
Uncertain
10
6
6
3
9
Disagree
2
4
13
12
9
A majority of pre-service science teachers (55.4%) held the contemporary view about hypotheses and theories. They disagreed with the statement “hypotheses are developed to become theories only.” Of written responses, 44.2% argued that hypotheses are potentially developed to become laws, and 13% of written responses additionally argued that hypotheses may be proven to be false. However, one-third of pre-service science teachers were uncertain about hypotheses and theories, while only three of them explicitly expressed an informed conception. Interestingly, the fifth year pre-service science teachers held markedly more informed conceptions of hypotheses and theories than the others.
Nearly one third of pre-service science teachers (30.36%) were uncertain about theories and laws. In addition, 43.8% of respondents expressed the traditional view that scientific theories are less secure than laws. A major explanation supporting the uninformed view (29.2%) was that, “theories are less credible than laws because theories can be changed, but laws are fixed, they cannot be changed.” Only five student teachers explicitly demonstrated informed conception by stating that “theories and laws are equally credible.”
A very high proportion of pre-service science teachers (80.4%) believed in “laws-are-mature-theories-fables.” A majority of the written responses provided to support their view (70%) stated that “when the theories have been proved, they can be developed to become laws.”
All pre-service science teachers, except one who was uncertain, expressed the contemporary view about the tentativeness of science. Nearly all of the written responses (94.4%) raised the discovery of new or more credible evidence as a reason why scientific knowledge can be changed. However, one teacher believed that “theories can be developed to become law, thus scientific knowledge is tentative.” This response demonstrates the conjunction of two beliefs—the first one is incorrect, but accidentally leads to another correct one.
A majority of respondents (81.1%) possessed the naïve conception that “accumulation of evidence makes scientific knowledge more stable.” They all believed in what we called “Baconian induction” (McComas, 1998, p. 58). The majority of written responses (59.5%) supporting this naïve view indicated that “the accumulation of evidence increases the credibility of scientific knowledge.”
The scientific model item revealed a good split of answers among naïve, informed and uncertain views. We found that 33.3% of pre-service science teachers agreed with the statement “a scientific model expresses a copy of reality,” while 36.0% disagreed, and 30.6% were uncertain. A major pattern of reasoning (33.8%) supporting the disagree response was “the scientific model does not express a copy of reality because it is created from scientists’ imaginations.” Notably, the first year pre-service science teachers were highly uncertain and held an uninformed conception of scientific models.
Pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS: Scientific method
The pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS with respect to scientific method are depicted in Table II.
Table II Pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS: Scientific method
Item
No.
Response
Number of respondents
1st year
2nd year
3rd year
4th year
5th year
5
Agree
12
8
8
10
11
Uncertain
9
5
2
6
7
Disagree
6
4
14
4
6
6
Agree
6
7
3
5
6
Uncertain
10
4
5
15
9
Disagree
10
6
15
0
9
7
Agree
5
3
1
3
0
Uncertain
6
2
4
17
3
Disagree
15
12
19
0
21
An uninformed conception of the scientific method was reported by 43.8% of pre-service science teachers. They believed that scientists must follow a fixed step-by-step method to obtain scientific knowledge. Interestingly, nearly one third of respondents (30.4%) were uncertain about whether the stages of the scientific method could be reordered or if any could be removed. Remarkably, the third year pre-service science teachers held informed conceptions of the scientific method.
More than one third (39.1%) of pre-service teachers were uncertain about whether “science and scientific method can answer all questions,” and more than one third (36.4%) of them disagreed with the statement. Of 90 written responses, 60 of them (66.7%) raised issues (e.g., ghosts, spirits, the devil, black magic, the supernatural, fortune-tellers, etc.) that science can not explain. Interestingly, three responses raised the issue of time, i.e., eventually scientists will come up with explanations of such things. Notably, the fourth year pre-service science teachers were highly uncertain, and all of them had uninformed conceptions regarding this item.
The contemporary view that “scientific knowledge is not originated from experiments only” was expressed by 60.4% of respondents. 30 of the 87 written statements (34.5%) supported their responses by stating that scientific knowledge can be obtained from observation. Furthermore, 20 of the 87 written responses (23.0%) indicated that more than one method can be used to seek scientific knowledge. Again, the fourth year pre-service science teachers were highly uncertain, and all of them held naïve views with respect to this item.
Pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS: Scientists’ work
The pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS with respect to scientists’ work are depicted in Table III.
Table III Pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS: Scientists’ work
Item
No.
Response
Number of respondents
1st year
2nd year
3rd year
4th year
5th year
10
Agree
6
0
0
0
1
Uncertain
1
1
1
0
0
Disagree
19
16
23
20
23
11
Agree
16
11
14
11
17
Uncertain
9
5
3
6
6
Disagree
1
1
7
3
1
Nearly all pre-service science teachers (91.0%) believed that “scientists use creativity and imagination in developing scientific knowledge.” The two frequently raised examples were the creativity and imagination involved in creating scientific models (18.4%) and designing scientific experiments (14.5%).
Nearly two thirds of pre-service science teachers (62.2%) agreed that “scientists are open-minded without any biases.” The majority of written responses (60%) stated that being open-minded and unbiased are desirable characteristics of scientists that allow them to succeed in their work. Only 11.7% of respondents held the contemporary view and argued that some scientists are not open-minded and possess some biases.
Pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS: Scientific enterprise
The pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS with respect to scientific enterprise are depicted in Table IV.
Table IV Pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the NOS: Scientific enterprise
Item
No.
Response
Number of respondents
1st year
2nd year
3rd year
4th year
5th year
12
Agree
13
5
5
2
3
Uncertain
9
7
2
18
7
Disagree
4
5
17
0
14
13
Agree
2
0
0
2
0
Uncertain
1
0
1
18
4
Disagree
23
17
23
0
20
14
Agree
8
1
0
3
0
Uncertain
7
0
3
17
1
Disagree
11
16
21
0
23
More than one third of pre-service science teachers (36%) disagreed with the statement, “science and technology are identical.” One third of written responses expressed the pre-service science teachers’ naïve conceptions that “technology is applied science.” Three patterns of the relationship between science and technology emerged from the responses, i.e., technology originated from science (54.4%), science and technology interact with each other (28.9%) and science creates technology and technology develops science (2.2%). Notably, the fourth year pre-service science teachers were highly uncertain, and none of them held informed conceptions of the interaction between science and technology.
A majority of pre-service science teachers (74.8%) disagreed with the item “scientific enterprise is an individual enterprise.” Nearly all of the written responses (97.8%) claimed that science is a social activity that involves many persons. The fourth year pre-service science teachers were highly uncertain, and none of them held informed conceptions regarding science as a social activity.
Nearly two thirds of pre-service science teachers (64%) believed that society, politics and culture potentially affect the development of scientific knowledge in some ways. Again, the fourth year pre-service science teachers were highly uncertain, and none of them possessed contemporary views regarding this item.
