The Effects of Inquiry-based Learning Activities to Understand the Nature of Science of Science Student Teachers

Understanding the nature of science (NOS) is one of the main components for science students to be science literate people. It is also important for science teacher students to develop their NOS understanding to be relevant to an informed view. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of Inquiry process learning activities through a reflective explicit approach and the history of scientists on science student teachers, understanding NOS through mixed-method research. The samples were 35 science student teachers in the general science program at Yala Rajabhat University, Thailand. The research instruments included (1) inquiry-based learning through the reflective explicit approach and the history of scientists lesson plans, (2) the NOS understanding questionnaire, and (3) a semi-structured interview about the NOS understanding. The data were statistically analyzed in terms of percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test dependent samples, and content analysis. The results revealed that the mean scores of the NOS understanding of the science teacher students taking part in the inquiry-based learning activities through the reflective explicit approach and the history of scientists after learning were higher than those before learning, with the statistical significance at .05. After the learning, most of the students had informed view (IV) of all NOS aspect. The research suggests that Inquiry-based learning activities through the reflective explicit approach and the history of scientists can promote an understanding of the nature of science. It should be used in science learning management to develop students' understanding of the nature of science. Keywords: nature of science, the inquiry process, reflective explicit approach, history of scientists, learning activities