Nature of science and models: Comparing portuguese prospective teachers' views

Abstract

Despite the relevance of nature of science and scientific models in science education, studies reveal that students do not possess adequate views regarding these topics. Bearing in mind that both teachers' views and knowledge strongly influence students' educational experiences, the main scope of this study was to evaluate Portuguese prospective teachers' views of nature of science, models and earth's structure models and to analyse if their views differ (by comparing prospective primary teachers' with prospective middle and secondary school teachers' views). A questionnaire was applied to 65 prospective science teachers who were enrolled in different Portuguese institutions of higher education. Descriptive analysis showed that although the majority of the participants revealed intermediate views of nature of science, a high percentage of them hold uninformed views regarding the other topics of analysis. Some differences between prospective middle and secondary teachers' views and prospective primary teachers' views were also found.