Exploring Prospective Teachers' Worldviews and Conceptions of Nature of Science

Autor/inn/en	Liu, Shiang-Yao; Lederman, Norman G.
Titel	Exploring Prospective Teachers' Worldviews and Conceptions of Nature of Science
Quelle	In: International Journal of Science Education, 29 (2007) 10, S.1281-1307 (27 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0950-0693
Schlagwörter	World Views; Scientific Enterprise; Science Curriculum; Science Teachers; Scientific Principles; Science Instruction; Foreign Countries; Questionnaires; Interviews; Sociocultural Patterns; Teacher Education; Elementary Education; Cultural Context; Taiwan + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? World view; Weltanschauung; Science; Teacher; Teachers; Science teacher; Wissenschaft; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Ausland; Fragebogen; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Soziokulturelle Theorie; Lehrerausbildung; Lehrerbildung; Elementarunterricht
Abstract	This study explores the relationship, if any, between an individual's culturally based worldviews and conceptions of nature of science. In addition, the implications of this relationship (or lack of relationship) for science teaching and learning are discussed. Participants were 54 Taiwanese prospective science teachers. Their conceptions of nature of science and their worldviews specific to humans' relationship with the natural world were assessed using two open-ended questionnaires in conjunction with follow-up interviews. Their understandings of nature of science were classified into informed and naive categories based upon contemporary views of these constructs and those stressed in international reform documents. An anthropocentric-naturecentric continuum emerged and is used to explain the participants' views about humans' relationship with nature. Participants who recognized the limitations of scientific knowledge, and accept the idea that science involves subjective and cultural components, were more likely to emphasize harmony with nature. In contrast, participants who possessed narrow views about the scientific enterprise and described science as close to technology and as of materialistic benefit tended to provide an anthropocentric perspective regarding the human-Nature relationships. The findings illustrate the interplay between participants' sociocultural beliefs and conceptions of nature of science. Concisely, people with different worldviews may have concurrently different views about nature of science. The study suggests the need for incorporating sociocultural perspectives and nature of science in the science curriculum. The following are appended: (1)Worldview Questionnaire; and (2) NOS Questionnaire. (Contains 4 tables.) (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10