Teacher training on the nature of science through action-research

• Main Authors: Ángel Vázquez-Alonso, Adriana María Rodríguez Cruz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia 2014-01-01
• Series: Praxis & Saber
• Subjects: Naturaleza de la Ciencia y Tecnología; conocimiento didáctico del contenido; secuencias de enseñanza aprendizaje; formación del profesorado; enseñanza explícita-reflexiva.
• Online Access: http://revistas.uptc.edu.co/index.php/praxis_saber/article/view/3000

Nature of science teaching is essential for scientific and technological literacy, but teacher training is poor due to the lack of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of topics on the nature of science and technology (NS&amp,T). This article addresses the development of the PCK through the self-training of a teacher, by describing the process of curriculum ownership, change and self-regulation, to teach the students the topic “observation in science”. Since action-research is the frame of this study, the teacher reflects and researches his own practice, with the help of some tools to make explicit the developed PCK. The results show the features of the PCK developed by the teacher, and how the teacher becomes aware that the PCK-NS&amp,T integrative model, the different teaching contexts in the classroom, and the reflective and explicit teaching processes are effective to teach NS&amp,T, as they improve students’ understanding of the theory-laden of observations and develop motivation towards consensus argumentation and decision making, autonomous learning, sharing team work, self-reflection and dialogue.