This study investigated tenth grade Bhutanese students’ understanding of the law of mechanical energy conservation. A low-cost hands-on model developed using locally available materials designed as an integral part of a guided inquiry laboratory was used as intervention. A single-group pretest-posttest research design was employed. The instruments used to explore the students’ conceptual understanding and views and attitudes were 13 two-tier multiple-choice items and 20 close-ended Likert-based items, respectively. The study also examined the students’ views and attitudes toward a guided inquiry laboratory and the effectiveness of a hands-on model through a semi-structured interview protocol. The data was analysed by calculating the mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The paired-sample t-test indicated a significant enhancement of students’ conceptual understanding due to the intervention of the guided inquiry laboratory from pretest (M=12.59, SD=3.28) to posttest [M=21.39, SD=3.07), t(99) = – 52.14, p

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.

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