Correlation between Understanding about Nature of Science and Orientation to Teaching Science: An Exploratory Study with Thai First-Year Preservice Biology Teachers

Year 2019, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 134 - 145, 15.01.2019

Luecha Ladachart

https://doi.org/10.21891/jeseh.512428

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Research in teacher education has given increasing attention to
pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as a theoretical construct that describes
necessary knowledge for teachers to teach specific content. This research study
aims to examine whether an understanding about the nature of science (NOS)
correlates with orientation to teaching science (OTS), which is an overarching
component of PCK for teaching science. Nineteen first-year preservice biology
teachers completed adapted versions of an open-ended questionnaire called V-NOS
and a multiple-choice OTS test called POSST whose data were transformed and
then analyzed using Pearson’s correlation. The results reveal a slightly
negative correlation between these two variables, which is not statistically
significant (r = −.227, p = .351). This result suggests that understanding of
the NOS may not be a dimension of OTSs, so facilitating understanding of the
NOS may not necessarily lead to inquiry-based OTSs.  

Keywords

Nature of science, Pedagogical content knowledge, Science teaching orientation

References

• Ladachart, L. (2019). Correlation between understanding about nature of science and orientation to teaching science: An exploratory study with Thai first-year preservice biology teachers.