Possible Research Questions
My central interest in research focuses on in-service teachers and their contributions to student learning regarding the nature of science. I believe teaching the nature of science to students is important so that students can understand that the discipline of science is rational and tentative simultaneously. Students are confused when science facts and theories are taught as final knowledge, but are then informed that ideas in science change over time because of new data or improved measurement tools. Teaching what is known about science and how those ideas have come to take a central role in scientific thinking is a step toward resolving the conflict students experience. Some questions that are emerging from this line of reasoning are as follows:

• How can the nature of science be used as a metacognitive tool to help students think more like scientists and recognize the discipline of science?
• What connections do teachers see between inquiry science and the nature of science?
• How can teaching through inquiry help to elicit concepts of the nature of science?
• What choices in planning do teachers make to show students how science is both rational and tentative?
• What are some mechanisms of teacher change that would encourage teachers to focus more on the nature of science?
• How do resource materials influence teacher choice in planning instruction regarding the nature of science?
• How do teacher choices in planning and implementing science lessons influence student attitudes regarding habits of mind in science?
• What factors cause teachers to neglect epistemological issues in teaching science?

I would like to work with in-service middle school or high school teachers in this research for several reasons:

• I have 14 years of teaching experience as a high school and middle school teacher.
• Research shows that teacher understanding of the nature of science is a long-term endeavor.
• New teachers tend to spend their professional energy in issues of management.
  
• Elementary teachers are required to be generalists. I would like to first work with science specialists, then transfer my understanding to help generalists understand the core ideas.
• Middle school and high school students have more of an ability to think abstractly and incoporate the concepts of the nature of science into their learning.