Author: Lina Aviyanti
Aviyanti, Lina, 2020 An investigation into Indonesian pre-service physics teachers' scientific thinking and conceptual understanding of physics, Flinders University, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
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Pre-service physics teachers in Indonesia exhibit relatively low levels of scientific thinking and understanding of physics concepts. The aspects of scientific thinking, made up of epistemological beliefs, argumentation, and scientific reasoning, are known to have an impact on pre-service physics teachers' ability to understand physics concepts. Demographic factors and factors related to physics teaching and learning practices are also believed to play a significant role in the development of pre-service physics teachers' scientific thinking and understanding of physics concepts. However, the extent to which these factors are interconnected, and how each factor influences the development of pre-service physics teachers' scientific thinking and understanding of physics concepts remains unclear.
Previous studies have shown that these aspects of scientific thinking, have not been examined in an integrated way but only through bivariate relationships. Consequently, using structural equation modelling (SEM) procedures, this study presents a plausible model that seeks to explain the complex set of relationships arising between each of these variables as well as several demographic factors concerning gender, year level, and university type. In addition, pre-service physics teachers’ perceptions about the opportunities and barriers experienced relating to teaching and learning are also explored through interviews.
A cross-sectional mixed-methods approach was used to triangulate quantitative and qualitative data sources in which a sequential explanatory design was employed. In the quantitative study, five surveys were completed by 706 Indonesian pre-service physics teachers from Year 1 to Year 4, coming from two private and two public universities, while the qualitative data were collected from face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 25 pre-service physics teachers.
The main findings provided strong evidence of the effect of pre-service physics teachers’ scientific thinking (comprising epistemological beliefs, argumentation, and scientific reasoning) on enhancing their understanding of physics concepts. Furthermore, epistemological beliefs and argumentation were found to positively affect pre-service physics teachers’ understanding of physics concepts mediated by their skills in scientific reasoning. The findings suggest that those with sophisticated epistemological beliefs were more skilled in argumentation and reasoning scientifically than those with naive epistemological beliefs. In addition, those with more highly developed skills in argumentation tended to be more skilled in scientific reasoning. Meanwhile, scientific reasoning was found to strongly and directly influence pre-service physics teachers’ understanding of physics concepts. The higher the level of pre-service physics teachers’ skills in scientific reasoning, the more likely they were to better understand physics concepts. In addition, the findings obtained from the interviews with the pre-service physics teachers indicate that the teaching methods implemented in class, and the type of examination questions used by instructors, are likely to be the most important factors influencing pre-service physics teachers’ adoption of particular approaches to learning. In turn, this could have an impact on the extent to which their scientific thinking and conceptual understanding of physics is developed. The study provides meaningful contributions in terms of theoretical, methodological, and practical understanding for practitioners and policymakers, particularly in assisting their efforts to improve the quality of physics teaching and learning practices in the Indonesian context.
Keywords: scientific thinking, epistemological beliefs, argumentation, scientific reasoning, conceptual understanding of physics, structural equation modelling
Subject: Education thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2020
School: College of Education, Psychology and Social Work
Supervisor: Dr. Carol Aldous