Experienced Teachers’ Strategies for Assessing Nature of Science Conceptions in the Elementary Classroom

Source: Journal of Science Teacher Education, Volume 21, Number 6, 723-745. (October, 2010).

The current study investigated the nature of science (NOS) assessments K-4 classroom teachers developed for measuring students’ understandings of NOS elements.

The authors used the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire-Form VNOS-D2 (Views of Nature of Science Elementary School Version 2) and interviews to verify that teachers’ conceptions of NOS were sufficient to enable them to teach and assess NOS.

The authors collected copies of teachers’ action research designs, lesson plans, and assessment tools, conducted classroom observations and made field notes of their science instruction and assessments.
The authors videotaped conversations at monthly workshops to note discussion surrounding teaching and assessing NOS in K-4 classrooms.

The authors found that experienced teachers designed a variety of strategies for assessing NOS conceptions that differed by grade level.