Investigações em Ensino de Ciências (Dec 2020)
Influences of Knowledge of Nature of Science on Planning of Lessons Related to History of Science
Abstract
The inclusion of History of Science in teaching contexts has been a topic frequently discussed in the Science Education literature. This can be justified due to the potential of historical narratives to favour epistemological discussions, which can contribute to a critical view of the scientific enterprise. However, in order to make such discussions accessible to students, it is necessary to consider how well-prepared science teachers are to plan lessons based on historical cases. Studies have shown that many teachers have great difficulties when planning and applying historical approaches, being many of them related to their views about science. In the current study, we analyse how pre-service teachers can use knowledge about Nature of Science to create a lesson based on History of Science. The motivation to conduct this study emerged from the hypothesis that knowledge about Nature of Science can help to overcome difficulties that teachers have to include historical cases in their practice. From the production of a multiple case study, it was possible to identify the relationship between knowledge about Nature of Science and: (i) the choice of which elements presented in historical cases should be addressed in a class; (ii) the interpretation of how such elements may be relevant to encourage reflections on Nature of Science; (iii) the interpretation of how History of Science is presented in textbooks; (iv) the identification of instructional strategies to be used in a given lesson; and (v) the evaluation of such strategies in terms of their potential to support reflections on Nature of Science. Based on these results, we discuss the relevance of Nature of Science understanding to guide teaching practices related to History of Science and its implications in terms of future research about science teachers’ knowledge.
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