Lisa A. Donnelly

Teaching Nature of Science to K‐2 Students: What understandings can they attain?

This study explored the influence of a Saturday Science program that used explicit reflective instruction through contextualized and decontextualized guided and authentic inquiry on K‐2 students’ views of nature of science (NOS). The six‐week program ran for 2.5 hours weekly and emphasized NOS in a variety of science content areas, culminating in an authentic inquiry designed and carried out by the K‐2 students. The Views of Nature of Science Form D was used to interview K‐2 students pre‐ and post‐instruction. Copies of student work were retained for content analysis. Videotapes made of each week’s science instruction were reviewed to ensure that explicit reflective NOS instruction took place. Explicit NOS teaching strategies included (1) introducing NOS through decontextualized activities, (2) embedding NOS into science content through contextualized activities, (3) using children’s literature, (4) debriefings and embedded NOS assessments, and (5) guided and student‐designed inquiries. Results indicate that K‐2 students improved their NOS views over the course of the program, suggesting that they are developmentally ready for these concepts. Students developed adequate views of the distinction between observation and inference, the creative NOS, the tentative NOS, the empirical NOS, and to a lesser degree, the subjective NOS.

Relationships among learner characteristics and preservice elementary teachers’ views of nature of science

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of learner characteristics and preservice teachers’ views of nature of science (NOS) prior to formal instruction. Learner characteristics investigated included metacognitive awareness, self-efficacy, attitudes toward science teaching, Perry’s intellectual and ethical developmental levels, concerns for teaching NOS, and cultural values. Findings indicated interesting relationships between NOS views and cultural values, self-efficacy, attitudes toward teaching science, metacognitive awareness, and Stages of Concern (SOC) for teaching NOS. Implications for preservice science teacher education include attending to cultural values related to science as a separate, but not better, way of knowing.

Scientific Modeling for Inquiring Teachers Network (SMIT’N): The Influence on Elementary Teachers’ Views of Nature of Science, Inquiry, and Modeling

This paper summarizes the findings from a K-6 professional development program that emphasized scientific inquiry and nature of science within the theme of scientific modeling. During the 2-week summer workshop and follow up school year workshops, the instruction modeled a 5-E learning cycle approach. Pre and posttesting measured teachers’ views of nature of science, inquiry, and scientific modeling. Teachers improved their views of nature of science (NOS) and inquiry by including scientific modeling in their definitions of how scientists work, the empirical nature of science, and the role of observations and inferences in science. Their definitions of science expanded from a knowledge-based orientation to a process-based orientation. Teachers added the use of mathematical formulas to their views of scientific modeling. Using scientific modeling as the central theme was effective in providing positive influence on teachers’ views of inquiry and NOS.

Teachers' Willingness to Adopt Nature of Science Activities Following a Physical Science Professional Development.

The major science education reform documents emphasize the need for K-12 students to have a robust understanding of nature of science (NOS), and inservice teachers consequently need to develop their NOS teaching repertoires. This study investigated the extent to which science teachers were willing to adopt new strategies and activities for teaching NOS in their classrooms. The participants were 36 elementary, middle, and high school teachers who were completing a year-long physical science professional development (PD) that included NOS instruction. Data sources consisted of surveys (teachers’ NOS views, teaching practices), collected work, and responses to post-PD follow-up questions. The professional development course was successful in that teachers incorporated many of these strategies and activities into their own practice. This study also endeavored to identify factors that facilitated the adoption of these new approaches to teaching NOS. While personal characteristics such as pre- or post-PD NOS understandings, NOS gains, and grade level taught were not related to the number of NOS activities incorporated, teachers from suburban and rural schools were significantly more likely to implement NOS activities.

Developing a Community of Practice to Support Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Nature of Science Instruction

This study explored ‘To what extent will preservice teachers with adequate nature of science (NOS) conceptions and who participate in a community supporting NOS instruction teach NOS in their internship settings?’ Using a combination of focus group discussions and peer feedback, five preservice teachers met with university personnel bi-monthly during their internships to share NOS teaching and assessment ideas and ask questions. Field notes and voice recordings were used to track conversations at focus group settings and videotapes were made of science instruction in each internship setting. None of the preservice teachers had cooperating teachers who taught NOS, yet results showed that all five preservice teachers were able to explicitly teach NOS in their science lessons, albeit in different ways and to different degrees.