Epistemological Conceptions in Teacher Education: A Study with Students from Luanda

Abstract

Epistemology plays an important role in detecting learning difficulties in a given field of knowledge and in directing strategies to eliminate them. This quantitative study aimed to get to know the perceptions of 624 students, related to the nature of science and science teaching and learning. The cross-sectional survey, based on the Inventory of Teacher’s Pedagogical & Scientific Beliefs (INPECIP) questionnaire, was applied to the students who attended the 10th, 11th and 12th grades of teacher training courses, in a school in Luanda. The results reveal a clear majority agreement with the theoretical and conceptual frameworks presented, in decreasing manner, from the “didactic model” through the “learning theory”, the “image of Science” and the “teaching methodologies”. The regression model highlights that the course attended clearly influences the epistemological conceptions of the respondents.