Understanding Inservice Middle School Teachers’ Views of Nature of Science (VNOS)

Abstract

The Nature of Science (NOS) is a component of science literacy that supports critical thinking around science concepts, speaking to how and why science is conducted and connected to creating data and evidence. NOS is designed to be more than the standardized lessons of science; it helps children critically analyze and solve real-world and societal issues using scientific knowledge. The interpretation of science varies between the ideology and beliefs of each individual. Given the importance of this idea, it is necessary that teachers be able to provide NOS opportunities to students; however, first, they must have a firm grasp of the concept. To that end, we have created a qualitative study using the Views of Nature of Science (VNOS-D+) questionnaire to understand how a group of middle school science teachers conceptualize the NOS. The VNOS-D+ was administered to a cohort of teachers and administrators (n=23) within a Large Urban School District. The data was analyzed using the VNOS key and then open-coded by three reviewers. The results found that participants had an emergent and developing understanding of the NOS and should be supported to develop a robust NOS perspective. Given this finding, future research, professional development, and educational curriculums should support teachers to continually engage with NOS explicitly and implicitly to grow their understanding of the topic.