Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 400–416 Whither constructivism?—A chemistry teachers’ perspective Mansoor Niaz à Epistemology of Science Group, Department of Chemistry, Universidad de Oriente, Apartado Postal 90, Cumana´, Estado Sucre 6101A, Venezuela Received 30 October 2006; received in revised form 3 October 2007; accepted 30 October 2007 Abstract Constructivism in science education has been the subject of considerable debate in the science education literature. The purpose of this study was to facilitate chemistry teachers’ understanding that the tentative nature of scientific knowledge leads to the coexistence and rivalries among different forms of constructivism in science education. The study is based on 17 in-service teachers who had registered for a 11-week course on ‘Epistemology of Science Teaching’ as part of their Master’s degree program. The course is based on 17 readings drawing on nature of science and a critical evaluation of constructivism. Course activities included written reports, classroom discussions based on participants’ presentations and written exams. Based on the results obtained, it is plausible to suggest that participant teachers experienced the following transitions leading to greater understanding, as they acquired experience with respect to constructivism: (a) Active participation of students as a pre-requisite for change; (b) Different forms of constructivism represent competing and conflicting interpretations of progress in science; (c) Acceptance of the present state of constructivism as a Kuhnian paradigm; (d) Social constructivism as the preferred form of constructivism; (e) Critical appraisal of social constructivism; (f) Despite its popularity, social constructivism does not constitute a Kuhnian paradigm (due to controversies, there is no consensus in the science education community); (g) Contradictions faced by constructivism in science education provide the base for its advance and evolution towards more progressive forms, and hence the need to consider, whither constructivism? r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Constructivism; Science education; Nature of science; Tentative nature of scientific knowledge 1. Introduction The decline of positivism during the latter half of the 20th century facilitated the development of constructivism in various forms as an alternative philosophical and educational theory (Louden & Wallace, 1994). Most science educators would agree that during the 1970s and the 1980s among other forms of constructivism, Piagetian and Ausubelian constructivism played a dominant role. Piagetian constructivism emphasized the need for going beyond expository teaching practice in order to facilitate development of reasoning based on the learning cycle. In contrast, Ausubelian constructi- vism promoted meaningful receptive learning based on prior knowledge of the students and concept maps. Since then, constructivism in science educa- tion has developed in many forms by drawing inspiration from various philosophical and episte- mological sources (Geelan, 1997; Good, 1993; Phillips, 1995). Of the different forms, radical (von ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/tate 0742-051X/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2007.10.006 à Tel./fax: +58 293 4318572. E-mail address: niazma@cantv.net