Relationship between understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of NOS in a group of biology teachers before and after a professional development programme

This study describes changes in the understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) and Pedagogical Content Knowledge for NOS (PCKNOS) among 15 in-service biology teachers following a professional development programme (PDP). Data on teachers’ understanding of NOS were collected using a modified version of the VNOS D+ questionnaire, which included two additional questions from the VASI questionnaire related to ‘The Scientific Method’. Teachers’ understanding was classified into three levels – Informed, Mixed and Naïve – according to a validated rubric. To obtain data on PCKNOS, semi-structured Content Representation (CoRe) interviews were used. To describe the changes between pre and post, a comparison was made between each teacher’s personal PCKNOS and a collective PCKNOS. Specifically, three criteria were used for the comparison: (a) total map area; (b) map shape and (c) identity of the codes. The results show that teachers’ understanding of NOS improved after the PDP. The development of teachers’ pPCKNOS was reflected in an increase in map area resulting from the inclusion of new concepts related to knowledge of students’ learning (e.g. preconceptions about ‘The scientific method’) and knowledge associated with instructional strategies (e.g. the use of the history of science). Implications for PDPs and the development of teachers’ PCKNOS are discussed.