Bhutanese Primary Science Teachers’ Epistemic Beliefs of Science

Abstract

Epistemic beliefs of science (EBS) are considered to have a strong influence on how science teachers view science itself and carry out science teaching. To this end, Bhutanese primary science teachers, as much as secondary science teachers, are expected to possess sophisticated EBS. While this is one of the aims of the Bhutanese science education system, there is little to no information regarding Bhutanese primary science teachers’ EBS. Hence, this cross-sectional study examined EBS held by primary science teachers from three districts in Bhutan. One hundred and ninety-five (N = 195) primary science teachers took part in the study using a total population sampling design. Data collected using the Epistemic Beliefs of Science Questionnaire (EBSQ) were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Findings revealed that Bhutanese primary science teachers from three districts in Bhutan held naive EBS in several aspects of source, certainty, development, and justification dimensions of scientific knowledge. The chi-square test of independence (χ2) revealed that there were no significant relationships between Bhutanese primary science teachers’ EBS and their teaching background (p > .05). The one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA), while showed significant differences in certainty dimension, revealed that were no significant differences among Bhutanese primary science teachers’ EBS in other dimensions based on their academic qualifications (p > .05). The implications of research findings to the Ministry of Education, science curriculum documents, and teacher preparation are discussed.