Investigating the development of pre-service science teachers' NOSI views and related teaching practices

• Published in: International journal of science education Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 50 - 69
• Main Authors: Mesci, Günkut, Çavuş-Güngören, Seda, Yesildag-Hasancebi, Funda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 02.01.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: 5E lesson planning; Case Studies; Classroom observation; Classrooms; Inquiry; Inquiry method; Inquiry-based teaching; Lesson Plans; Males; nature of scientific inquiry; Personal characteristics; pre-service science teachers; Preservice Teachers; Preservice training; Science education; Science Instruction; Science Laboratories; Science Teachers; Scientific Principles; Student Attitudes; Teacher education; Teacher Education Programs; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Transfer of Training; Video Technology
• ISSN: 0950-0693; 1464-5289
• DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2019.1700316

The purpose of this study was to examine how pre-service science teachers develop their understandings of nature of scientific inquiry during the science laboratory course with preparing 5E based lesson plans, and how they transfer those understandings into their teaching practices. All data were collected and analysed qualitatively by using the case study approach. Thirty-four pre-service teachers (25 females, 9 males) participated in this study. Data were collected via the five sources: The Views About Scientific Inquiry questionnaire, inquiry-based 5E lesson plan, classroom observations, video recordings, and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that some aspects of nature of scientific inquiry were positively changed (e.g. 'multiple scientific methods') while some aspects were not altered significantly (e.g. 'same procedures may not get the same results'). This study, also, showed that pre-service science teachers could partly transfer their understanding of nature of scientific inquiry into their teaching practices for some reasons, including participants' subject matter knowledge, motivations, practicing skills, and personal characteristics. This study suggests that science teachers should be more aware of the importance of nature of scientific inquiry, and they should be given more opportunity to experience of preparation and teaching of scientific inquiry.