Journal of the Korean earth science society (한국지구과학회지)

The Korean Earth Science Society (한국지구과학회)
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Preservice Elementary-school Teachers' Perceptions about the Nature of Science

  • Jinhee Kim (Department of Earth Science Education, Korea National University of Education) ;
  • Youngsun Kwak (Department of Earth Science Education, Korea National University of Education)
  • Received : 2024.07.31
  • Accepted : 2024.08.23
  • Published : 2024.08.31
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Abstract

This study investigated the perceptions of elementary school preservice teachers in their 4th year at K-Education University, an elementary school teacher-training institution, on the nature of science (NOS). To examine the differences in elementary school preservice teachers' perceptions of NOS according to their high school career aptitude, we conducted in-depth interviews with two students each in the humanities and social sciences (HS) and natural sciences (NS) based on the subjects that they had taken while attending high school. For this purpose, we used the Views of Nature of Science Form C (VNOS-C) and Views about Scientific Inquiry (VASI) questionnaires, which were reconfigured. The main research results were that the elementary school preservice teachers showed a positivistic perspective on the NOS, validity of scientific knowledge, difference between theory and law, and social and cultural embeddedness of science. However, they had a latest perspective on the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, observation and inference, and the role of imagination and creativity. In particular, there were clear differences in perception between HS and NS teachers in the areas of tentativeness of scientific knowledge and understanding of observation and inference. Based on these research results, educational implications for improving the science education competencies of preservice elementary school teachers were proposed.

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