Assessing views about the nature of science by vignettes: The case of prospective science teachers

In the present day one of the most significant objectives of science education reform movements in many countries is scientific literacy. In addition, one of the most significant dimensions of scientific literacy is the understanding into the nature of science. This issue has been a popular area of study within the scope of the latest reforms. The majority of these studies focus on developing a program for science teachers to perceive the nature of science and a scale to measure opinions on the nature of science. However, most of the scales constructed do not allow for explaining people?s opinions in a comprehensive way. It has been understood that the different scales and methods employed in the studies are far from enabling the individuals in the sample to explain their views and concepts related to the subject fully and free from any direction.The present study aims to identify prospective science teachers? opinions on the nature of science via a scale and short stories and the effectiveness of short story as a measurement instrument by comparing those ideas gathered in different ways. The study was conducted among prospective science teachers within a multiple-case study. Though the Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale (NSKS) and the eight vignettes created by the researcher, the participants? views on the nature of science were identified and the use of vignettes as an assessment method was demonstrated.The research comprised two stages: the pilot and the authentic application. The piloting was carried out in 2009 spring term with the participation of 90 prospective science teachers who had taken History and Nature of Science course while the main study included 79 prospective teachers in 2010 spring term. Data collected from NSKS were analyzed via descriptive statistics while the responses to the vignettes were assessed on the basis of rubric scores developed by the researcher. In addition, participants? responses to the vignettes were analyzed via content analysis, which is a qualitative research method.At the end of the analyses, it was determined that the participants? opinions on the nature of science, which was measured via different methods, varied from each other. The scores of NSKS were generally higher than that of vignettes scores. Positive results were obtained as to the validity and reliability of vignettes. It was understood that vignettes can be used as a method of determining opinions on the nature of science.