Exploring the pre-service and in-service science teachers' views on nature of science and scientific inquiry and classroom practices

The purpose of this study utilizing the survey method is to determine pre-service and in-service science teachers' views on nature of science and scientific inquiry and how their views reflect to their classroom practices. 19 pre-service science teachers in their final year in the Department of Science Education Program and 21 science teachers working in Elazig and surrounding cities participated in the study. Views of the Nature of Science (VNOS) and Views about Scientific Inquiry (VASI) questionnaires were used to determine pre-service and in-service science teachers' views on nature of science and scientific inquiry. The individual interviews were conducted with all PSTs from after applying the questionnaires in order to profoundly clarify their understandings about nature of science and scientific inquiry. Field notes, lesson plans and video records for the pre-service and in-service science teachers' classroom teaching practices were used as data collection tools in this study. The qualitative data obtained from questionnaires and individual interviews was transformed into quantitative data approach used in previous studies (Aydemir, 2012; Kaya, 2009; Vazquez-Alonso and Manassero-Mas, 1999) and was analyzed in a holistic way. Findings obtained from the data showed that pre-service and in-service science teachers' knowledge levels of nature of science and scientific inquiry were approximately close to each other and had generally partial understandings on them. Chi-square analyses indicated that while there were no statistically significance differences between pre-service and in-service science teachers about all aspects of nature of science and seven aspects of scientific inquiry (p>0,05) except for only one scientific aspect – "Scientific Investigations All Begin With a Question" (p<0,05). Findings obtained from classroom practices indicated that both pre-service and in-service science teachers tended not to reflect their views on nature of science and scientific inquiry on their classroom practices. Keywords: Nature of Science, Scientific Inquiry, Classroom Practice, Pre-Service Science Teachers, In-service Science Teachers.