Critical Reflective Approach to Teach the Nature of Science: A Rationale and Review of Strategies

Abstract

Today, there is a strong agreement among science educators that science instruction should facilitate the development of an adequate understanding of the nature of science. Despite this agreement, research has showed that science teachers do not possess adequate conceptions about scientific enterprise. Evidence from this research points out that science teachers’ views are generally compartmentalized and lacked consistency; features which are expected given that learners are often not provided with opportunities to reflect on and clarify their views about the nature of science (NOS). Towards this end, this paper aims to present and discuss a rationale for preparing reflectionoriented courses for NOS instruction in science teacher education programs. Further, it reviews various approaches and strategies used or offered by research in order to stimulate critical reflective thinking among prospective science teachers about their personal theories on the NOS. The approaches reviewed here include co-operative controversy strategy, action research and inquiry teaching, journal writing, the use of metaphors and proverbs, and critical incidents.