ERIC Number: EJ1211082
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Apr
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0157-244X
EISSN: N/A
Nature of Science Progression in School Year 1-9: A Case Study of Teachers' Suggestions and Rationales
Leden, Lotta; Hansson, Lena
Research in Science Education, v49 n2 p591-611 Apr 2019
The inclusion of "nature of science" (NOS) in science education has for a long time been regarded as crucial. There is, however, a lack of research on appropriate NOS aspects for different educational levels. An even more neglected area of research is that focusing on teachers' perspectives on NOS teaching at different levels. The aim of this article is to examine NOS progression in the light of teachers' suggestions and rationales. In order to obtain teachers' informed perspectives, we chose to involve six teachers (teaching grades 1-9) in a 3-year research project. They took part in focus group discussions about NOS and NOS teaching as well as implemented jointly planned NOS teaching sessions. Data that this article builds on was collected at the end of the project. The teachers' suggestions for NOS progression often relied on adding more NOS issues at every stage, thereby creating the foundations of a broader but not necessarily deeper understanding of NOS. Five rationales, for if/when specific NOS issues are appropriate to introduce, emerged from the analysis of the teacher discussions. Some of these rationales, including "practice makes perfect" and "increasing levels of depth" can potentially accommodate room for many NOS issues in the science classroom, while "maturity and experience" instead has a restricting effect on NOS teaching. Also, "choice of context" and "teaching approaches" play an important role in teachers' rationales for whether specific NOS issues should be included or not at different stages. The article discusses the implications for teacher education and professional development.
Descriptors: Scientific Principles, Science Instruction, Science Education, Elementary School Science, Secondary School Science, Science Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Sequential Approach
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A