The National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Pennsylvania, United States Of America, 21 - 24 March 2010, pp.47
This study is an investigation of prospective science teachers (PSTs)’ epistemological beliefs regarding the dimensions
of source, certainty and structure of knowledge in the domain of environment and whether environmental epistemological beliefs in
these dimensions differ across knowledge in the domains of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. The participants of the
study consisted of 17 PSTs. The instrument used for assessment of PSTs’ epistemological beliefs regarding knowledge was a semistructured interview developed by Schommer-Aikins (2008). To examine domain-specific epistemological beliefs, participants
answered each question first for the domain of environment and then the domains of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics.
Comparative data analyses methods were used to analyze data. The qualitative analyses of PSTs’ responses to a set of interview
questions indicated that PSTs’ do not espouse the same beliefs regarding the source, certainty and structure of environmental
knowledge and that of physical, chemical, biological and mathematical knowledge. The findings of this study also highlighted that in
addition to the amount of environmental knowledge, the nature of knowledge gained in environment must be addressed in
environmental education.