Thai and Bangladeshi in-service science teachers' conceptions of nature of science: A comparative study

Instrument

The Myths of Science Questionnaire (MOSQ) (Buaraphan, 2012) was employed to explore science teachers' conceptions of NOS. MOSQ consists of 14 items and addresses four aspects of NOS: scientific knowledge (Items 1-4, 8, and 9); scientific method (Items 5-7); scientists' work (Items 10-11); and scientific enterprise (Items 12-14). MOSQ respondents are required to select which of three responses, i.e., agree, uncertain, or disagree, best fits their opinion of the item statement and to provide an additional written response to support their selection. The completion of the questionnaire took approximately 45 minutes. The content validity of MOSQ was established by five science educators. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of MOSQ was .79. All MOSQ items are presented in Figure 1.

Directions: Please select the choice that best reflects your opinion and provide an explanation supporting your selection.

Statement	Opinion
1. Hypotheses are developed to become theories only	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
2. Scientific theories are less secure than laws	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
3.Scientific theories can be developed to become laws	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
4. Scientific knowledge cannot be changed	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
5. The scientific method is a fixed step-by-step process	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
6. Science and the scientific method can answer all questions	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
7. Scientific knowledge comes from experiments only	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
8. Accumulation of evidence makes scientific knowledge more stable	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
9. A scientific model (e.g., the atomic model) expresses a copy of reality	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
10. Scientists do not use creativity and imagination in developing scientific knowledge	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
11. Scientists are open-minded without any biases	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
12. Science and technology are identical	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
13. Scientific enterprise is an individual enterprise	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..
14. Society, politics, and culture do not affect the development of scientific knowledge	□ Agree □ Uncertain □ Disagree ……………………………………..

Figure 1 Myths of Science Questionnaire (MOSQ)

When translating MOSQ into the Bangladeshi language (Bengali), the back translation approach was employed. First, three Bangladeshi educators were asked to check the accuracy of translation from English to Bengali. Their comments were used to revise MOSQ in the Bengali version. Next, another three Bangladeshi educators were asked to back translate the revised MOSQ from Bengali to English. The researchers checked the match between both translations. Any mismatch of translation was resolved by consensus in an experts meeting.

Data collection

The participants of this study were derived from purposeful sampling, which is one type of the non-probability based sampling techniques. To elaborate, purposeful sampling avoids random sampling by targeting a specific group of people, often a small group rather than a more general one (Kerlinger, 1986). However, the sample derived from purposeful sampling is not easily defensible as being representative of populations due to potential subjectivity of researcher (Black, 1999). The main objective of this study is not to generalize the findings from a sample to a population, but rather to derive more information about NOS conceptions of science teachers from Thailand and Bangladesh reflected through MOSQ. The criteria for participants in this study were that they must be in-service science teachers, who are responsible for teaching in the secondary level in either Thailand or Bangladesh.

The data were collected from 165 in-service secondary science teachers in the 2011 academic year. Two-thirds of the participants were Bangladeshi (n = 110) and one-third Thai (n = 55). The data collection in Bangladesh occurred in the capital city, Dhaka, and the central region. In Thailand, the data was collected from six regions—North, Northeast, Central, East, West, and South. Three-quarters of Thai participants (76.37%) were female; in contrast, most of the Bangladeshi participants (83.63%) were male. The age range of Thai and Bangladeshi participants is shown in Table 1. Interestingly, nearly half of the Thai participants (49.09%) were more than 46 years old and most of Bangladeshi participants (84.54%) were 26 to 40 years old.

**Table 1. Appropriateness of the data for factor analysis**
Nationality	Age range (Year)
Nationality	Lower 25	26-30	31-35	36-40	41-45	46-50	Upper 50
Thai	1 (1.81%)	9 (16.36%)	6 (10.90%)	8 (14.54%)	4 (7.27%)	13 (23.63%)	14 (25.45%)
Bangladeshi	0 (0.00%)	30 (27.27%)	34 (30.90%)	29 (26.36%)	7 (6.36%)	6 (5.45%)	4 (3.63%)
Total	1 (0.60%)	39 (23.63%)	40 (24.24%)	37 (22.42%)	11 (6.67%)	19 (11.51%)	18 (10.90%)

Data analysis

From MOSQ, the "agree," "uncertain," and "disagree" responses were, respectively, interpreted as "informed," "uncertain," and "uninformed" conceptions of NOS. However, "one's view of NOS is a complex web of ideas that loses meaning when reduced to simple numbers" (Palmquist & Finley, 1997, p. 601). Therefore, a written response provided by a participant in each item was also considered to support a final categorization. The informed conceptions of NOS (Adapted from Urhahne, Kremer, & Mayer (2011) and McComas (1998)) embedded in MOSQ are illustrated in Figure 2.

MOSQ Item	Informed conception of NOS
1. Hypotheses are developed to become theories only.	The belief in a hierarchical relationship between hypotheses, theories, and laws generally leads to the uninformed conception that “hypotheses are developed to become theories only”. Really, hypotheses can be developed to become theories or even laws. Sonleitner (1989) labeled the hypotheses becoming laws as the “generalizing hypotheses” and the hypotheses becoming theories as the “explanatory hypotheses.”
2. Scientific theories are less secure than laws.	In science, theories and laws are different kinds of knowledge and serve different functions. Scientific theories are highly respected, well trusted, and in themselves consistent explanatory systems. Predictions can be derived from them and tested by observable facts. Laws formally describe the relations between observable phenomena. Laws do not possess a higher rank than theories.
3. Scientific theories can be developed to become laws.	There is a relationship between theories and laws, but it is not the case that one simply becomes the other—no matter how much empirical evidence is amassed. Laws are generalizations, principles or patterns in the nature and theories are the explanations of these generalizations.
4. Scientific knowledge cannot be changed.	The general success of the scientific endeavor suggests that its products must be valid. However, the hallmark of science is that it is subject to revision when new information is presented.
5. The scientific method is a fixed step-by-step process.	Science does not differ from other human endeavors when puzzles are investigated. There is no universal step-by-step scientific method. Scientists approach and solve problems with imagination, creativity, prior knowledge and perseverance.
6. Science and the scientific method can answer all questions.	Some questions simply must not be asked of scientists. Science as a discipline simply cannot answer moral, ethical, aesthetic, social and metaphysical questions, although it can provide some insights which might be illuminating.
7. Scientific knowledge comes from experiments only.	Experimentation is a useful tool in science, but is not the sole route to knowledge. Many scientists use non-experimental techniques to advance knowledge. For example, many fundamental discoveries in astronomy are based on extensive observations rather than experiments.
8. Accumulation of evidence makes scientific knowledge more stable.	Accumulated evidence can provide support, validation and substantiation for laws or theories, but will never prove those laws and theories to be true and guarantee they are more stable. No matter how much evidence accumulated, once disconfirming evidence has emerged, at least we know that those laws and theories are untrue.
9. A scientific model (e.g., the atomic model) expresses a copy of reality.	One limitation of science is that the truenature of reality can never be known because there is no omniscient entity to ask. Science was invented at least in part (as a scientific model is invented) to answer questions about the natural world and get as close to the truth as possible.
10. Scientists do not use creativity and imagination in developing scientific knowledge.	The production of scientific knowledge is not a perfectly rational and absolutely logical process. The development of scientific knowledge requires a scientist’s creativity and imagination. This is valid for all research processes, from finding research ideas to analyzing and interpreting data. Some scientific concepts are based on enormous intellectual performances, which would not have been possible without the inspiration and imaginative power of scientists.
11. Scientists are open-minded without any biases.	Scientists, like other observers, hold myriad preconceptions and biases about the way the world operates. Scientists, inevitably, employ the theory-laden observation and it is impossible for them to collect and interpret facts without any bias.
12. Science and technology are identical.	The pursuit of knowledge for the sake of knowledge alone is called pure science while its exploitation in the production of a commercial product is applied science or technology.
13. Scientific enterprise is an individual enterprise.	Scientific enterprise is not limited to individual pursuit. Scientists work in research teams with a community of like-minded investigators. Cooperation and collaboration among scientists promote the development of scientific knowledge. Many problems in science are simply too complex for a sole individual to pursue alone due to constraints of time, intellectual capital and financing.
14. Society, politics, and culture do not affect the development of scientific knowledge.	Science is conducted in a cultural context in which scientists are inevitably embedded. So, the scientific enterprise is not value-free, but can be influenced by society, politics, and culture.

Figure 2 Informed conceptions of NOS embedded in MOSQ

Note: Adapted from Urhahne, Kremer, and Mayer (2011) and McComas (1998)

After that, the frequency of each type of NOS conception was counted and calculated for percentage. Finally, a chi-square test was run to examine the differences between Thai and Bangladeshi science teachers' NOS conceptions at the .01 significance level.