An investigation of Zimbabwe a-level chemistry teachers' epistemological beliefs, laboratory instructional practices and students' images of the nature of science

Abstract

This study set out to investigate the nature of A-level Chemistry teachers' science epistemological beliefs, the teachers' laboratory instructional practices and their students' images of science. Science epistemological beliefs (SEBs) are the views of the teachers about the nature of scientific knowledge and the processes of its development and validation. Laboratory instructional practice was looked at from the angle of the teachers' practice of inquiry. Students' images of the nature of science are the ideas which students hold about the nature of scientific knowledge and the processes of its development and validation. The subjects in the study were twelve teachers and 72 A-level Chemistry students drawn from twelve schools in three of Zimbabwe's nine schools' administrative provinces. Teachers' science epistemological beliefs were determined through a Likert-type instrument and interviews. The nature of teachers' laboratory instructional practices was ascertained through observation of laboratory classes, a teacher Laboratory Programmes Variables Inventory, a student Laboratory Programmes variables inventory and teacher and student interviews. Students images of the nature of science were obtained through, a Likert-type questionnaire, an open-ended questionnaire and interviews of selected students. Their perceptions of their laboratory experiences were obtained through a Laboratory Programmes Variables Inventory and interviews.