The Tentativeness of Scientific Theories: Conceptions of Pre-Service Science Teachers

Abstract

The recognition of sound understanding of Nature of Science (NOS) in promoting
scientific literacy among individuals has heightened the need to probe NOS
conceptions among various groups. However, the nature of quantitative studies in
gauging NOS understanding has left the understanding on few NOS aspects
insufficiently informed. This paper aimed to probe the understanding on one of
these underexplored aspects, namely the tentativeness of scientific theory.

Phenomenographic data collect was used to infer the understanding of ten pre-
service science teachers on the tentativeness of scientific theories. Results

showed that the participants held two differing conceptions about the scientific
theories in this regard, namely 1) Theories are changeable with future occurrences
and 2) Theories are changeable opinions. Implications suggest that other than
educating the future teachers about NOS, the pedagogical NOS knowledge should
be equally emphasized so that they are able to include NOS in their instructions
explicitly.