A study of teachers' profile of the nature of science in an in-service teacher education program

The study was based on an activity that got teachers to reflect on their views of the nature of science. It is important for science educators to explore teachers’ image of science because it may have profound implications on the way teachers present and teach science in the classroom (Nott and Wellington, 1993). The activity involved teachers in two tasks, the first task required teachers to rate 24 items, each ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The use of a scoring system in four continua: (a) relativism / positivism; (b) inductivism / deductivism; (c) contexualism / decontexutalism; (d) Process / content; (e) instrumentalism / realism helped to work out the profile of teachers’ nature of science. The second task required teachers to write about their views of science, science teaching and science learning. About forty teachers participating in an in-service teacher education workshop were invited to the activity. The differences of teachers’ scores in the first task before and after the workshop were of captured to identify the evidence of professional development. Teachers’ responses in their view of science, science teaching and science learning provide further justification to teachers’ profile of the nature of science.