A case of one professor's teaching and use of nature of science in an introductory chemistry course

Abstract

In this article I provide a qualitative analysis of one faculty's teaching and answer the following research question: How does one chemistry professor who teaches introductory science incorporate aspects of the nature of science (NOS) into his course? This study concentrates on a single case in one private higher institution in the Northeastern United States. The participant's teaching style is presented through a combined presentation of interviews, classroom observations, and classroom activities. Six main themes emerged from the field notes in the areas of teacher actions, student teacher interactions, start of the lecture, incorporating NOS language in instruction, class size, and student actions These findings revealed that the participant preferred to use traditional teacher-centered lecturing as his teaching style; his main concerns were to cover more content, develop problem-solving skills of his students, and teach fundamental principles of chemistry without paying special importance to the aspects of NOS. © 2010: Mehmet Karakas and Nova Southeastern University.