“What's the Big Idea?”: A qualitative analysis of the big ideas of primary science teachers

Big Ideas are an emerging area of research that afford insight into how teachers conceptualise their practices. This research aims to investigate the science Big Ideas of a sample of 40 Australian primary teachers. Participants articulated their science Big Ideas through interviews and/or online surveys. An a priori qualitative analysis utilising Harlen's “Big Ideas about and of Science” was supplemented with emergent thematic analysis. Participants’ ideas about science (i.e. the nature of science) were considerably more developed than their ideas of science (i.e. science content knowledge). The teachers’ emphasis on scientific literacy aligns with current research.