Pre-service Science Teachers’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science

Abstract

Understanding the Nature of science is a crucial part of scientific literacy that helps students develop ideas about science and make informed decisions. Science teachers’ knowledge of the Nature of science is essential to enhancing students’ understanding. This study examined 50 pre-service science teachers’ conceptions of the Nature of science. The data collected by administering the Understanding the Nature of science questionnaire was analysed using descriptive statistics and a one-way analysis of variance test. The findings revealed that pre-service science teachers have uninformed conceptions about the Nature of science, particularly in the tenets of scientific methods, scientific theories and laws, scientific knowledge, and scientific enterprise. There was no statistically significant difference in the level of Nature of science conceptions based on their specialisation (F [2, 47] =.251). Future research is encouraged to explore the implications of teachers' conceptions of the Nature of science on students' understanding, employing a multi-method approach.