The promotion of science teachers' understanding about nature of scientific knowledge through explicit-reflective workshop

Abstract

Science teachers worldwide are mandated to teach about nature of science (NOS). To effectively do that, they need an adequate understanding of NOS. This study aims to explore in-service science teachers' conceptions of nature of scientific knowledge (NOSK) and the effect of an explicit-reflective approach in promoting their understanding about NOSK. Thirty science teachers (8 male, 22 female) were asked to respond to the Myths of Science Questionnaire (MOSQ) before and after an explicitreflective NOS workshop. The findings revealed that science teachers possessed several uninformed conceptions of NOSK. Although science teachers' conceptions of NOSK were stable and resistant to change, the explicit-reflective NOS workshop, to some extent, promoted their informed conceptions of NOSK. Therefore, the explicit-reflective NOS workshop should be employed to help science teachers develop more informed conceptions of NOSK. © Common Ground, Jittanun Doungpaen, Khajornsak Buaraphan.