For several decades, nature of Science (NOS) has been advocated as the fourth dimension of science teaching and is a fundamental source of in-depth learning and teaching. In addition to improving learning and teaching of science, the explicit inclusion of NOS in science curricula helps the creation of a responsible citizenry. Here, we analyze the representation of NOS aspects in science curricula, particularly in the physics syllabi in four East African Community (EAC) countries: Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. These EAC countries have been purposively selected because of sharing similar culture and history as neighboring countries. To compare NOS representation in the physics content, five major topic areas (mechanics, heat and thermodynamics, oscillations and waves, electricity, and atomic physics) were randomly selected from the syllabi used in advanced level secondary schools. The paper critically analyzes the representation of NOS aspects throughout front matter (introductions and rationales) and back matter (appendices and references), content, teaching methods, and assessment procedures proposed in these physics’ syllabi. Based on the analysis of data, the findings reveal that NOS aspects are not explicitly represented in the four physics syllabi analyzed. This study also found that in four syllabi reviewed, competencies were given much attention without any overt connection to the work of scientists. Finally, we suggest possible ways to improve NOS representation in the science curriculum.

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<p style="text-align: justify;">Guided by the analytical framework in the current literature, whereby ten nature of science (NOS) aspects were targeted, this study aims at assessing the extent to which the three physics textbooks for Cycle 4 of Fundamental Schools in Burundi represent the NOS aspects. The quantitative embedded research design which combines the qualitative and quantitative to both the representations of text and images were applied to collect and analyses data. Three physics textbooks used in this study as textbooks I, II and III (grade 7 textbook, grade 8 textbook and grade 9 textbook) were purposively selected. 65 physics lessons were analyzed in three steps including exploring representations of NOS aspects, representations of NOS teaching approaches and accuracy and completeness of NOS aspects. Data were collected using a guide document analysis and a rubric of NOS scoring and were analysed descriptively. The findings found a considerable deficit of NOS aspects in the physics textbooks. The findings also revealed the critical situation where the few lessons poorly represent the NOS aspects and the majority of them do not include the aspects of NOS. Furthermore, this study suggests the in-charge of quality assurance to evaluate and deliberate on the accuracy and completeness of physics textbooks for Cycle 4 of Fundamental Education in Burundi.</p>

Although the nature of science (NOS) is recognized worldwide as an important aspect of promoting the understanding of science subjects in schools but very little research has been conducted in this regard in the Rwandan context. This study investigates the status of Rwandan senior secondary physics students’ views on NOS aspects. The instrument for data collection in this study is made up of 30 items adapted from “Views of Nature of Science-B”; “Student Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry (SUSSI)”; and “Views of Nature of Science-C (VNOS-C)”. After establishing the reliability of the instrument, we administered this questionnaire to 148 senior secondary physics students from four schools (i.e. randomly selected two boarding schools and two day schools) from Kicukiro and Kayonza districts. Frequency, mean, and standard deviation were calculated, and a t-test was used as part of the data analysis. The findings of this study indicate that many of the students have strongly held and naïve views about all targeted NOS aspects. The naïve views are predominantly related to the tentative nature of science; empiricism; the relationship between scientific theories and laws; social contexts in knowledge construction; and scientific methods, compared to other remaining targeted NOS aspects which are observation and inferences; and imagination and creativity. The study revealed that, overall, students’ understanding of NOS is not influenced by gender or school location. However, a more detailed look shows slight variations between male and female students on some items.