Science Instructors' Views of Science and Nature of Science

Authors

Mehmet Karakas, Artvin Coruh UniversityFollow

Abstract

This qualitative study examined how college science faculty who teach introductory level undergraduate science courses including the fields of chemistry, biology, physics, and earth science, understand and define science and nature of science (NOS). Participants were seventeen science instructors from five different institutions in the northeastern U.S. and all of them were interviewed. Consistent with previous research, the findings revealed that the participants in this study held sophisticated and complex conceptions of NOS. In some instances their views were in line with the views promoted by science philosophers, and in other instances their views were more mixed and naive. Findings show that engaging in scientific inquiry is not enough to ensure informed conceptions of NOS.

Keywords

Science Education, College Science Teaching, Nature of Science, Qualitative Research

Publication Date

7-4-2011

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1124

Recommended APA Citation

Karakas, M. (2011). Science Instructors' Views of Science and Nature of Science. The Qualitative Report, 16(4), 1124-1159. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1124