Views on the nature of science in teachers: Input to think about changes in their training

Abstract

We studied the views on the nature of science (NOS) in a group of 105 teachers in post-graduate training in two Master's programs in education in Colombia. The research proposed in our study used mixed methods: quantitative analyses made it possible to statistically formulate two epistemological profiles for the NOS views of the participating teachers; qualitative analyses allowed characterizing those views, which proved to be eclectic, in the framework of the proposed epistemological profiles. On the basis of the results obtained, which show that subjects under study hold views on what science is that are inadequate from the point of view of the current curriculum prescriptions, we argue in favor of introducing an explicit meta-scientific component from the very beginning of pre-service teacher education and we present ideas along this line.