Abstract:

This study makes part of a research project that aims to introduce pre-service teachers in Nature of Science (NOS) through argumentation and decision-making processes. This proposal analyses pre-service teachers’ preliminary conceptions about the actions required in the decision making process necessary for solving a socio-scientific issue about nuclear waste management.

Socio-scientific issues are recognized as effective contexts for learning and training about decision-making processes. Furthermore, they contribute to attain a functional understanding of NOS, in the sense of how science actually works and produces reliable knowledge. This is essential to prepare cultured members of society and informed citizens.

In this study, the participants were 60 pre-service teachers attaining a course about Science Education during a semester in three public Spanish Universities. Of these, 20 were students of the fourth year of the Degree in Early Childhood Education, another 20 were in the third year of the Degree in Primary Education, and the remaining 20 were students in the second year of the former grade.

For data collection, the participants complete a questionnaire at the begging of the semester. The questionnaire was designed by the authors in order to introduce students to Nature of Science aspects. The analysed data correspond to the participants' individual written responses to the last question of the questionnaire, which consisted in an open question about the actions required for decision making in a problem related to nuclear waste management.

The methodology draws from qualitative content analysis aimed at systematically describing the meaning of qualitative material by classifying it as of the categories of a coding frame. The coding frame used was specifically developed by the authors, in interaction with the literature, the data collected, and other results obtained in previous research within the project.

The categories that compose the rubric are the following:
• Identify the causes of the conflict (observe, take data, make interviews)
• Investigate possible solutions (find information, meet with experts, meet with groups involved)
• Expose solutions to the conflict (show advantages and disadvantages, elaborate arguments based on data)
• Evaluate possible solutions (analyse the information provided, compare advantages and disadvantages)
• Make a decision on the best solution (draw a conclusion, make an informed argument, seek consensus among the groups involved)
• Examine the effectiveness of the decision made (observe, take data, analyse the information obtained, draw a conclusion).

In general, the results highlight prospective teachers’ difficulties for identifying key actions in the decision-making process. Data show that the categories “expose solutions to the conflict” and “evaluate possible solutions” are the less recognised actions, maybe because these are actions in which they need to create good arguments. Moreover, the participants show a tendency to adopt punitive measures, instead of looking for a consensus. These results could be associated to the student teachers' naive conceptions about actions involved in the construction of scientific knowledge. Therefore, the results highlight the need of a deeper teacher training in Nature of Science, promoting the use of operations involved in decision-making processes.

Keywords:

Nature of Science, Teacher Training, Socio-Scientific Issues, Nuclear Waste.