Investigation And Instructional Design Development Of Primary School Science Teachers’ View Of The Nature Of Science

In recent years,the nature of science has become a hot topic in international science education research,and many countries have taken it as an important educational content to help students gain a deeper understanding of the nature of science and establish a correct concept of science.The education curriculum standards of several subjects promulgated in China have proposed to enhance students’ education on the nature of science and advocate the infiltration of education on the nature of science in teaching.The Compulsory Education Science Curriculum Standards(2022 Edition)states that the compulsory education science curriculum is a comprehensive basic course that reflects the nature of science.By combing through the literature related to the nature of science concept,it was found that the research on the nature of science is set at the secondary school level,and relatively little research has been done in the field of elementary science.Based on this,the main questions of this study were identified:1.What is the development level of primary school science teachers’ view of the nature of science in Hengshui City,Hebei Province?2.How to develop instructional design that penetrates the nature of science in the primary school science unit “Sun,Earth and Moon”?Based on the constructivism theory and the framework of nature of science developed by Norman G.Lederman,an American educational scholar,this study investigated the status quo of nature of science view of municipal primary school science teachers and rural primary school science teachers in Hengshui City,Hebei Province by using questionnaire,literature and interview methods.In order to understand the development level of primary school science teachers’ views on the nature of science in Hengshui City,Hebei Province,the questionnaire of views on the Nature of science(VNOS D+)developed by Norman G.Lederman team was used to measure science teachers’ views on the nature of science.Based on the observation of classroom teaching of science teachers,the following conclusions are drawn:(1)On the whole,primary school science teachers in Hengshui City of Hebei Province do not have an ideal understanding of the nature of science,and their views on the nature of science are at a “Naive” level.From the perspective of different dimensions,the overall level development of the seven dimensions of science teachers’ view of the nature of science is uneven.In Hengshui City,Hebei Province,there is a great difference in the understanding level of city primary school science teachers and rural primary school science teachers,and the level of city science teachers is higher than rural science teachers.In all dimensions,City teachers and rural teachers’ understanding of the dimensions A1(positive nature of scientific knowledge),A3(difference between observation and reasoning in science),A4(subjectivity of scientific knowledge),A5(creativity and conjecture of scientific knowledge),A6(scientific theory and law),A7(rooted in social culture of scientific knowledge)are all at the “Naive”level.But the understanding level of urban teachers is higher than that of rural teachers;Urban teachers’ understanding of the A2 dimension(temporality of scientific knowledge)is at the “Mixed” level,while rural teachers’ understanding of this dimension is at the “Naive”level.(2)Science teachers usually teach students the nature of science based on the content of textbooks.The teaching methods are relatively undiversified.The factors affecting the development of primary school science teachers’ concept of the nature of science mainly include two aspects: first,the consciousness of independent learning of science teachers;second,the external environment such as schools provides conditions for science teachers.In addition to teachers’ role in educating students about the nature of science,textbooks are also the main tools for students to acquire knowledge about the nature of science.Through a comparative analysis of the teaching science edition,Ji Ren Edition and Human Education E edition,it is concluded that the three editions all pay attention to the cultivation of students’ scientific inquiry ability and attitude responsibility in the content setting of the unit “Sun,Earth and Moon”,but there are differences in the number of class hours and teaching logic of different editions.Combined with the above conclusions,this study based on the primary school science textbooks of Hebei Edition,with “inquisitive teaching” and “integrated teaching of science history” as the main teaching methods,developed the teaching design of the unit of “The Sun,the Earth and the Moon” for primary school science of Hebei Edition,which permeates the nature of science.In order to improve students’ view of the nature of science,the knowledge of the nature of science should be integrated into teaching activities and students should be guided to think actively.