The Future of Education

Nowaday nanotechnology is become more important. It’s a multidisciplinary field includes chemistry, physics, biology, etc. Science education has become to emphasize nanotechnology learning. In order to integrate nanotechnology into science teaching, we need to respect teachers’ knowledge on nanotechnology. The purpose of this study is to investigate a junior high school science teacher’s understanding of nanotechnology. She is a senior teacher and majors in biology. The open-ended questionnaire is developed to ask the case to explain the definitions of nanometer and nanotechnology, the properties of nanoparticle and certain natural phenomenon related to nanotechnology. The follow-up interviews were conducted to clarify the case teacher’s ideas. Data were coded and analyzed to present teacher’s ideas and alternative conceptions of nanotechnology. The major findings are: (1) she realized a nanometer is a unit of spatial measurement. She thought that nanotechnology is the science of extremely small structures but cannot make a clear statement of its definition. (2) She mentioned that nanoparticles often have unique physical and chemical properties. She explained the surface area of nanoparticles increases with a decrease in particle size without mentioning why such properties would be changed. (3) She indicated that the nanostructure exists within several plants and animals ( e.g., gecko, beetle). The science jargon was used to explain these phenomena but she misunderstood its meaning. For example, she knows the gecko could walk upside down as a result of van der Waals' force and has no idea of the theory of the force.