The Importance of Teaching Nature of Science: Exploring Preservice Teachers’ Views and Instructional Practice

ABSTRACT Literature suggests the transfer of understanding the nature of science to instructional practice requires preservice teachers to value teaching about the nature of science. Despite decades of research developing preservice teachers’ views of nature of science, there is still a disconnect between their understanding and instructional practice. While engaging with the nature of science during a methods course is a good place to begin, field-based opportunities are instrumental in helping preservice teachers develop an understanding for why this practice is important. The current study explores how field-based assignments during a science methods course influences ten elementary preservice teachers’ views for the importance of nature of science and how they begin to transfer NOS to their practice. To help the preservice teachers understand the importance for nature of science instruction, intentional field-based assignments within a science methods course provided opportunities for application of the nature of science within in the context of the classroom. Data were collected from an analysis of young children’s views of science paper, written science lesson plans with reflections, and video recordings of enacted science lesson plans. These data sources were analyzed to identify evidence of NOS views and practice. Findings reveal positive influences of these field-based experiences with nature of scientific thinking on the preservice teachers’ intended and enacted instructional practice. These findings, along with implications for the use of field-based activities while enrolled in a science methods course are discussed.