Teachers' scientific epistemological views, conceptions of teaching science, and their approaches to teaching science: An exploratory study of inservice science teachers in Taiwan

This chapter focuses on issues regarding the relations among inservice teachers' scientific epistemological views, conceptions of teaching science, and their approaches to teaching science. Twenty-five high school science teachers in Taiwan were selected as the subjects of this study. The research data were gathered by means of two instruments: An open-ended questionnaire to explore teachers' scientific epistemological beliefs and conceptions of teaching science, and an inventory to assess their approaches to teaching science. Based on the descriptive data, the relations between teachers' scientific epistemological beliefs, conceptions of teaching science, and their approaches to teaching science were revealed. In addition, the results of the present study show that senior teachers may have inconsistent beliefs regarding scientific knowledge and teaching science (i.e., "traditional" scientific epistemological beliefs but "constructivist" conceptions of teaching science). The results could be interpreted through a cultural lens. The implications for teacher education and professional development regarding inservice teachers are also discussed.