Proposed Teacher Competencies to Support Effective Nature of Science Instruction: A Meta-Synthesis of the Literature

Nouri, Noushin; Saberi, Maryam; McComas, William F.; Mohammadi, Mehdi

doi:10.1080/1046560x.2020.1871206

Cited by 20 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Likewise, she also stated that she considered the promotion of the continuous training of teachers to be very important. We believe in the notions suggested by Capps and Crawford [20] and Nouri et al [69] that it is important to rigorously support teachers in valuing and implementing NOS instruction. If the education of the NOS and the use of models are recommended in national science education standard documents, it is then crucial to help in-service teachers and to narrow the gap between their practices and what is actually advocated in science education research.…”

Section: Results Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Models and the Nature of Science: What Mediates Their Implementation in Portuguese Biology and Geology Classes?

Torres

Vasconcelos

2021

Education Sciences

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Currently, it is considered fundamental to improve students’ views of the nature of science (NOS) in science classes. In addition, models are also important in science education, not only as contributors for students to develop their views of the NOS, but also for them to develop conceptual knowledge, as well as inquiry skills. Teachers greatly influence students’ learning experience. With the aim to improve prospective science teachers’ views of the NOS and about models, and to better understand the factors that mediate the translation of their views into their classroom practices, a research project was conducted. An intervention programme was applied, and prospective science teachers’ classes were observed. Data were collected, encompassing a diverse set of data sources: (i) questionnaires and interviews (given to prospective science teachers before and after the intervention programme); (ii) prospective science teachers’ lesson plans and portfolios: (iii) videotapes and observations of the classroom instruction; (iv) and, lastly, final interviews were given to both prospective science teachers and their school supervisors. Although prospective science teachers have improved their views regarding the NOS and models, they taught about the NOS and used models in very different ways. Some factors that mediate the translation of teachers’ views and some educational implications will be discussed.

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Section: Results Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Models and the Nature of Science: What Mediates Their Implementation in Portuguese Biology and Geology Classes?

Torres

Vasconcelos

2021

Education Sciences

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“…Teachers' beliefs are defined as "psychologically held understandings and assumptions about phenomena or objects of the world that are felt to be true, have both implicit and explicit aspects and influence people's interactions with the world" [36] (p. 250). More precisely, NOS beliefs conceptually belong to teachers' epistemological beliefs related to the nature of knowledge or a particular science (see, [37] for mathematics education; see [38], for an overview). In science education, NOS beliefs reflect preservice teachers' evaluations of the characteristics of scientific knowledge and its production [5].…”

Section: Beliefs About Nature Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research aligned the following aspects from different NOS conceptualizations: tentativeness; observations and inferences; creativity and imagination; subjectivity and objectivity; social and cultural embeddedness; diversity of scientific methods; and scientific theories and laws [39,40]. Recently, a comprehensive account of professional competence that teachers need for effective NOS instruction [38] added to the description of preservice teachers' NOS beliefs during teacher education [13] and provided a more prescriptive framework for teacher education.…”

Section: Beliefs About Nature Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Preservice Biology Teachers’ Scientific Reasoning Skills and Beliefs about Nature of Science: How Do They Develop and Is There a Mutual Relationship during the Development?

2021

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Scientific reasoning (SR) skills and nature of science (NOS) beliefs represent important characteristics of biology teachers’ professional competence. In particular, teacher education at university is formative for the professionalization of future teachers and is thus the focus of the current study. Our study aimed to examine the development of SR skills and NOS beliefs and their mutual relationship during teacher education. We applied paper-and-pencil tests to measure SR skills and NOS beliefs of 299 preservice biology teachers from 25 universities in Germany. The results of linear mixed models and planned comparisons revealed that both SR skills and NOS beliefs develop over the course of the study. Nevertheless, the development of SR skills and multiple aspects of NOS beliefs proceeds in different trajectories. Cross-lagged models showed a complex picture concerning the mutual relationship between SR skills and NOS beliefs during their development (both positive and negative). The current study contributes to the existing research because it is based on longitudinal data and allows—in contrast to cross-sectional research—conclusions about the development of SR skills and NOS beliefs.

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“…Since textbooks have so many deficiencies in the NOS content, measures regarding the teachers' training should be taken (Solaz-Portolés, 2010). To achieve effective NOS instruction, science teachers should hold several competencies including general NOS knowledge, subject matter knowledge, knowledge of learners with respect to NOS, knowledge about NOS instructional strategies, knowledge about NOS assessment, general pedagogical knowledge, and motivations and positive beliefs about teaching NOS (Nouri, et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature of Science in Greek Secondary School Biology Textbooks

Kapsala

Galani

Mavrikaki

2022

CEPSj

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The nature of science describes what science is, how it works, and its interactions with society under the perspectives of philosophy, history, sociology, and psychology of science. Understanding it is an essential aspect of scientific literacy. Given the critical role that school textbooks hold, considering what is taught and how it is taught in schools, we find the presence of the nature of science in school science textbooks to be significant. In this research paper, all Greek biology textbooks of lower secondary education are analysed to evaluate whether principal elements of the nature of science can be found in them. The whole array of educational resources available (textbooks, workbooks, lab guides, teachers’ books) was analysed as well as the corresponding official biology curricula. Content analysis was the method of choice, and the ‘meaning unit’ was the unit of analysis. We found that most of the nature of science references in the material that students were taught in 2021/22 was implicit and not especially designed by the curriculum. Some nature of science aspects were more commonly found (e.g., evidence is vital in science) than others (e.g., science has limits). The most opportunities for the nature of science to be introduced were found in history of science vignettes, laboratory activities, and some optional inquiry activities. However, without a structured design from the curriculum, it is the teachers’ responsibility to design and facilitate nature of science instruction (or not). We conclude that lacking explicit references, the nature of science falls into the hidden curriculum and becomes falsely depicted, enforcing a positivist image of science.

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Proposed Teacher Competencies to Support Effective Nature of Science Instruction: A Meta-Synthesis of the Literature

Cited by 20 publications

References 36 publications

Models and the Nature of Science: What Mediates Their Implementation in Portuguese Biology and Geology Classes?

Models and the Nature of Science: What Mediates Their Implementation in Portuguese Biology and Geology Classes?

Preservice Biology Teachers’ Scientific Reasoning Skills and Beliefs about Nature of Science: How Do They Develop and Is There a Mutual Relationship during the Development?

Nature of Science in Greek Secondary School Biology Textbooks

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