Nexus Between Learning Styles and Understanding of Nature of Science Among Pre-service Science Teachers in Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife

Abstract

The study assessed the understanding of the nature of science as well as the learning styles mostly adopted by Science pre service teachers in Obafemi Awolowo University. These were to provide information on the relationship between learning styles and the understanding of the nature of science among preservice science teachers in Obafemi Awolowo University. The study adopted a descriptive survey and ex post facto research design. The population of the study comprised all pre-service Science teachers in Obafemi Awolowo University. The study used a stratified random sampling technique to select one hundred and seventy-eight pre-service teachers across Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics fields. The study used one instrument named Pre-service Science Teachers Learning Style and Understanding of Nature of Science Questionnaire (PSTLSUNSQ). The study showed a significant relationship between the course of student and NOS (χ2 = 55.22, p <0.05) as there was a moderate level of understanding of nature among Biology, Chemistry, and Physics students with a high level for Mathematics students. The study also showed Audio learners were predominant as shown by 38% of the respondents as learning style related significantly with the course of study (χ2 = 26.29, p <0.05). The study concluded that there was a significant effect of learning styles and course of study on the learner’s understanding of the nature of science. (F=4.289, p<0.05).