Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Views on Philosophical and Scientific Books in the Nature of Science Course

This study aims to investigate prospective science teachers’ views on Web 2.0–supported instruction of the Nature of Science (NOS) and on the philosophical and scientific books they read within the NOS course. Teaching the nature of science offers a multidimensional learning space that encompasses the structure of scientific knowledge, the functioning of scientific methods, the historical evolution of knowledge, and the philosophical–sociocultural foundations of science. In this respect, it is crucial to develop pre-service teachers’ scientific thinking skills and to enable them to interpret science within its historical and cultural context and to relate it to philosophical concepts. The study was conducted with prospective science teachers enrolled in the Nature of Science and Its Teaching course at a public university in Istanbul during the 2023–2024 academic year. In the course, an instruction enriched with Web 2.0 tools was implemented for the experimental group, and the Nature of Science and History of Science Achievement Test was administered to examine changes in achievement levels. The findings revealed a significant increase in the post-test scores of the experimental group, whereas the increase in the control group was not statistically significant. This result indicates that Web 2.0– supported NOS instruction has a strong positive effect on academic achievement. In addition, a phenomenological design was adopted to explore participants’ experiences in depth. Data were collected through the Web 2.0–based “Philosophical Book Reading Evaluation Form” and semi-structured interviews, and analyzed by content analysis. Prospective teachers analyzed the books through themes such as scientific method, lives of scientists, characteristics of scientific knowledge, rationalism, determinism, and various philosophical ideologies. Many participants related the books to science teaching by proposing learning outcomes, activity designs, and instructional methods. The results show that integrating philosophical and scientific books into science education enhances scientific thinking skills, deepens understandings of the nature of science, and increases reading motivation, while Web 2.0 tools strengthen retention, interaction, and motivation in the learning process.