Student teachers views on the nature of science: do they change during a one year pre-service programme?

The nature of science (NOS) remains a central issue of pre-service teacher education. We considered the student teacher as a scientist, their background from undergraduate, previous postgraduate and life experiences as well as monitoring changes in their responses to a short questionnaire derived from McComas et al (1998). The study aimed to map the students' understanding of (NoS) with a view to developing their pedagogical content knowledge as well as establishing baseline data to measure the effect of future interventions during the pre-service programmes (such as teaching about NoS or the Philosophy of Science) It is also anticipated that we will be well placed to promote ACfE aspirations as well as informing our programme in relation to developing Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors who can contribute meaningfully to debates about controversial scientific issues.