Impact of Teachers’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science and ...
Abstract
The use of the appropriate textbook, such as the Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS), which promotes the understanding of the nature of science, is seen as an explicit attempt to inform high school students about the instrumentalist nature of science. The purpose of this study was to test the assumption that a curriculum that incorporates textbook materials that promote understanding of the nature of science along with adequate teachers’ conceptions of the nature of science will increase high school students’ learning and understanding of the nature of science. A major result of the study was that the combined effect of teachers’ adequate conceptions of the nature of science and their use of the BSCS textbook statistically impacted high school students’ understanding of the nature of science.