Outcomes of nature of science instruction along a context continuum: preservice secondary science teachers' conceptions and instructional intentions

This investigation examined outcomes associated with nature of science (NOS) instruction along a science-content context continuum on the development of secondary preservice science teachers' conceptions of and plans to teach NOS, moving beyond the common dichotomy of contextualized versus nonc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of science education 2016-02, Vol.38 (3), p.493-520
Main Authors: Bell, Randy L., Mulvey, Bridget K., Maeng, Jennifer L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Concept Formation
conceptual change
Graduate Students
Interviews
Methods Courses
Nature of science
Outcomes of Education
pre-service teachers
Preservice Teacher Education
Preservice Teachers
Pretests Posttests
Qualitative Research
Questionnaires
Scaffolding (Teaching Technique)
Science education
Science Instruction
Science Teachers
Scientific Principles
Secondary Education
Secondary School Teachers
secondary science
Statistical Analysis
Statistical Significance
Teacher Education Curriculum
teacher education-prospective teachers
Teacher Improvement
Teaching
United States (Mid Atlantic States)
Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test
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Summary:This investigation examined outcomes associated with nature of science (NOS) instruction along a science-content context continuum on the development of secondary preservice science teachers' conceptions of and plans to teach NOS, moving beyond the common dichotomy of contextualized versus noncontextualized instruction. Participants comprised six teacher cohorts (n = 70) enrolled in a two-year Master of Teaching program. Participants were explicitly taught current NOS conceptions using activities that incorporated varied degrees of contextualization and were informed by conceptual change principles during the first program year. Participants' pre- and post-instruction conceptions were assessed using VNOS-C questionnaire written responses and follow-up interviews. Participants' views were classified by degree of alignment (non, partially, or fully aligned) with current NOS conceptions. Interview transcripts were analyzed using analytic induction to verify/refine VNOS responses and to identify patterns in NOS instructional plans and rationales. Wilcoxon signed ranks tests were run to assess possible statistical significance of pre- to post-instruction changes. Participants' responses shifted markedly toward more aligned NOS conceptions post-instruction, with substantial and statistically significant gains for each assessed tenet (all p-values
ISSN:0950-0693
1464-5289
DOI:10.1080/09500693.2016.1151960