Pre-Service Secondary Science Teachers and the Contemporary Epistemological and Philosophical Conceptions of the Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge Construction Through History

In this research, we aim to synthesize the complex issue of students’ and science teachers’ conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). We identified the conceptions of ninety-five pre-service science teachers (PSTcs) enrolled in the Qualifying Master’s Program in Teaching Science at the secondary level in Quebec (Canada) about the NOS, particularly relative to the development of science through history and approaches to constructing scientific knowledge, especially regarding the relationship between observation, hypothesis, experiment, measure and theory. To this end, we constructed a multiple-choice questionnaire (MCQ) comprising 11 statements to characterize their conceptions. The qualitative data analysis underscores the intricate nature of scientific knowledge construction. The PSTcs identified are as follows: 1. Scientific theories today correspond to improving ancient theories; 2. Science progresses by accumulation; 3. Science advancement results from improving current theories thanks to experimentation; 4. The observation is a pure observation that is preconceived; 5. We must experiment with scientific equipment in a laboratory to disprove a theory; and 6. Experiments precede scientific theory. These conceptions are crucial not only for developing training programs that help pre-service science teachers (PSTs) to study the concepts of science prescribed in the curriculum within the history and epistemology of science, but also to underscore the urgency and importance of addressing these conceptions.