Assessing explicit and tacit conceptions of the nature of science among preservice elementary teachers

This paper reports on the processes and outcomes of practices in a preservice, elementary science methods course designed to: (1) fathom existing student perceptions of the nature of science and (2) move students from holding individually constructed, typically limited views on the nature of science towards more rich, publicly negotiated views. In the course of 15 weeks, 27 preservice elementary students engaged in a series of individual and collaborative exercises that required them to explore their tacit and explicit knowledge about the nature of science. The data were analysed using the interpretative-descriptive approach. Analyses revealed notable, positive changes in the language students used to describe both the nature and structure of the scientific enterprise. The findings of this study support continued efforts in the search for ways of understanding and affecting the views of science that preservice elementary teachers typically hold.