Improvement of Physics, Science and Elementary Teachers’ Conceptions about the Nature of Science: The Case of a Science Summer Camp

Abstract

This study examined the progress made on the nature of science conceptions of physics, science and elementary teachers participating in an astronomy science summer camp. The following two instruments were used in the study as pretest and posttest to investigate the effects of the camp program on the nature of science conceptions of the participant teachers: “Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale” developed by Rubba and Andersen (1978) and “Scientific Epistemological Views Scale” developed by Liu and Tsai (2008). Data collected from a total of fifty two teachers were analyzed using “Repeated Measures MANOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Variance)” statistics. It was observed that the teachers completing the camp program successfully made statistically significant improvement in certain aspects of the nature of science conceptions. No statistically significant difference was found in the progress
made by teachers in different teaching areas. The activities performed in the camp program addressed all participant teachers equally regardless of their teaching areas. It can be argued that the science summer camp introduced in this article and the similar professional development programs might contribute positively to the nature of science conceptions of teachers.