Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine middle school science teachers’ knowledge of the nature of science (NOS) and their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching NOS. Developing students’ scientific literacy requires teachers who not only understand NOS but also know how to effectively integrate it into classroom instruction. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study investigated in-service middle school science teachers’ NOS content knowledge (NOS-CK), their NOS-PCK, the relationship between these two constructs, and the extent to which demographic variables predicted teacher knowledge. NOS-CK and NOS-PCK data were collected from 61 teachers in a large suburban district through the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire, Form D+ (VNOS-D+) and Content Representations (CoRe), respectively. Quantitative analysis included descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. A qualitative subsample of 12 teachers participated in interviews and classroom observations to provide insight into instructional enactment of NOS. Findings showed that teachers most often demonstrated transitional NOS-CK, with strengths in recognizing the Empirical and Creative aspects of NOS and weaknesses in understanding other NOS aspects such as Tentativeness, Inference, Scientific Theories, Scientific Laws, and Social and Cultural Embeddedness of science. Teachers’ NOS-PCK was underdeveloped. They could articulate broad rationales for NOS instruction but struggled to identify specific teaching strategies or translate strategies into classroom practice. Regression analyses revealed that demographic variables, including gender, education level, certification area, and certification status, were not statistically significant predictors of NOS-CK or NOS-PCK. Teachers holding a clear renewable certificate tended to score slightly higher on VNOS-D+ than those who held a provisional certificate and those who were not certified, though this difference was not significant. A weak correlation was also found between teachers’ NOS-CK and NOS-PCK. Qualitative results further revealed that although teachers valued NOS and some demonstrated informed NOS-CK, this knowledge did not consistently translate into classroom practice. This synthesis clarifies how informed, transitional, and naïve views manifest in real teacher responses and underscores the need for targeted support to help teachers move toward informed, instructionally useful knowledge of NOS.

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