Incorporating authentic scientific research and the nature of science into the high school classroom

The true nature of scientific research, often neglected in science education and pre-service teacher training, is critical to student conceptual understanding of how science works. Many education students leave school with the naive view that science is a collection of facts rather than a dynamic process of inquiring into nature. The ASU Math and Science Teaching Fellows (MSTF) program gives in-service math and science teachers an opportunity to experience scientific research by immersion in active research groups in state-of-the-art laboratories. With a better understanding of what science looks like in actual research laboratories, these teachers implement direct instruction in the Nature of Science in their classrooms. Research that was conducted by teachers in a nanoscience laboratory and how they plan to implement their experiences into their high school classes will be presented.