Abstract:
This study examined secondary school students and science teachers’ conceptions
of the nature of scientific knowledge (NOSK). A pragmatic research philosophy was
adopted in this study. To address the objectives of the research, a mixed methods
approach was employed. Open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data from 134
students, and 48 science teachers. The participants were selected from three schools
using a convenient sampling technique. Qualitative analysis involved comparing
students’ and teachers’ responses to experts’ views of NOSK. Frequency counts and
percentages were also used to describe the NOSK conceptions of the participants. In
addition, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare students’ conceptions of NOSK
by grade level and gender. The findings showed that most of the secondary school
students had naïve conceptions about NOSK. On a comparative basis, grade 12 students
reflected more informed NOSK views than grade 10 students on most of the tenets. Mann
Whitney U test revealed that the mean rank score of grade 12 students is significantly
greater than grade 10 students on the subjective (U=3.20, p<.05) and cultural (U=2.42,
p<.01) aspects of NOSK. The teachers generally held a naïve conception of NOSK, as
evidenced by the fact that their conception aligned with informed conception only on two
of the seven assessed NOSK aspects. The findings indicated that there is a need to devise
mechanisms to develop secondary school students’ and teachers’ NOSK understanding to
attain its promised benefits. Future research should investigate students' and teachers'
NOSK conceptions using large samples across grade levels, from diversified schools,
including private and public schools from the different regions of the country to reveal
students’ and teachers’ NOSK conceptions.