Maltese post-secondary lecturers’ views on the nature of Science

Abstract

The major aim of this study was to investigate the nature of science [NOS] views of Maltese, postsecondary lecturers. The SUSSI questionnaire was used as the main research tool coupled with semi-structured interviews that were based on the VNOS-Form C questionnaire. A total of 252 questionnaires were collected from lecturers in the church, state and independent sixth form colleges, the University of Malta and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology. Ten online interviews were carried out with lecturers teaching various subjects in different institutions. Maltese lecturers tended to have transitional to adequate views on five NOS components, namely the tentativeness of scientific theories, scientific methodology, the social and cultural aspect of science, the use of imagination and creativity in science and the nature of observations and inferences. In turn, inadequate views were observed regarding the distinction between laws and theories. A high uniformity of views was found when looking at the NOS ideas of various subgroups. No differences were found by age group and lecturing experience while gender only yielded a statistically significant difference on the distinction between laws and theories. Comparison by area of specialisation showed that applied science lecturers tended to have more naïve views on most NOS components, yielding statistically significant differences on the use of imagination and creativity in science and the change of scientific theories. Views were also compared by closest traditional science area, where lecturers with Physics as closest science area exhibited more naïve views on both change of scientific theories and the social and cultural aspect of science. Finally, NOS views were compared by highest qualification, where lecturers with a PhD appeared to have significantly better views on change of scientific theories.