Science Student Teachers and Their Cooperating Teachers' Views About the Nature of Science

Abstract

     Thai science education reform emphasizes teaching science to promote constructivist views of the nature of science. Helping science student teachers and cooperating teachers to develop informed views of the nature of science has been, and continues to be, the central goal for science teacher professional development. This study, which is a part of a larger research project entitled "A Student Teacher Supervision Model: Enhancing Professional Development and Mentoring", aims to determine the views of science student teachers from a five-year science teacher education program and the views of their cooperating teachers regarding the nature of science. A questionnaire was adapted from Haidar's nature of science questionnaire and administered to 33 science student teachers from a large university in Bangkok, and 27 cooperating teachers. It was followed up with interviews. The questionnaire and interviews covered five aspects of the nature of science, including scientific theories and models, the role of a scientist, scientific knowledge, scientific methods, and scientific laws. The results showed that both science student teachers and their cooperating teachers' views are neither clearly traditional nor clearly constructivist. They held mixed views about the nature of science. The results from this study will be used to design a program to enhance science student teachers and their cooperating teachers' conceptions of the nature of science.