‘Nature of Science’ (NOS) and ‘Scientific Inquiry’ (SI) have been two of mostly discussed and studied topics in science education during almost two decades in science education

 (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS] 1990; National Research Council, [NRC] 1996, 2011; National Ministry of Education [NME], 2013a, 2013b, 2013c; Roberts, 2007; The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2013). Newly announced Next Generation Science Standards and curriculum of several countries (Dillon, 2009) also emphasize these two concepts. In Turkey, science education both in elementary and secondary level has undergone significant reforms since 2000s. Recently, in 2013 new Physics curriculum was announced in order to be administered in all secondary schools across whole country. This curriculum aims to educate physics literate persons and it defines physics literacy as being informed about interaction of physics with society, environment, and technology, about ınformation communication skills, and reaching informed judgments about scientific and technological improvements beyond knowing physics concepts, laws, facts and theories. Additionally Ministry of National Education declared principles for proficiencies in physics teaching. According to these principles, physics teachers should be competent in three areas: content knowledge (physics concepts, laws, and theories, its relationship with other disciplines principles of natural events and technological devices), physics teaching knowledge (following and evaluating curriculum, selecting appropriate teaching and learning approaches, preparing and using materials, and analyzing learning difficulties), and physics literacy (nature of physics, its interaction with society, environment and technology, problem solving and laboratory skills, ICT skills and career development). As a matter of fact, Turkish physics teachers should be competent in NOS and SI concepts because of proficiency principles and present physics curriculum.

Apart from the special case of Turkey, these two concepts are essential for an effective physics education regardless of the location. A teacher of science, first of all, should comprehend how science has been conducted and what the properties of science are. In essence there have been many studies assessing teachers’ understanding of NOS and understanding of Scientific Inquiry, however, there are not enough studies investigating the two together. Generally it is assumed that if a person has adequate level of understanding about NOS, then he/she has already grasped the properties of SI. However, this assumption has not been studied in a satisfying number.

The main aim of the present study is to investigate what physics teacher understands about the NOS and SI. Moreover, it also investigates the value given these two topics by physics teacher. Therefore, following research questions will be studied:

1. How do physics teachers perceive NOS?

2. How do physics teachers perceive SI?

3. How congruent their perceptions of NOS and SI with the National curriculum and proficiency principles?

The results of the study will be informative for science educators, curriculum developers, educational reform movements, teachers and administrators. In light of the findings, possible implications regarding how to make teachers become aware of NOS and SI, appreciate these concepts and integrate them into their lessons can be put forward.

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