Epistemological Conceptions of University Teachers and Students of Science

Abstract

This work presents an empirical study comparing NOS conceptions of undergraduate students and teachers of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the National University of Mar del Plata, Argentina. Using an ex post facto design, the study was carried out in two stages: one aimed at describing the conceptions each group has, and another targeting their comparison. The results obtained from both groups at the descriptive stage show a tendency toward relativist conceptions about the nature of knowledge and more intellectual ones about the acquisition of knowledge. The comparative study revealed that students’ conceptions on the “acquisition of knowledge” differ from those of their university teachers.