Abstract

This article presents the results obtained from a research carried out with students of the Pedagogy in Primary Education career of the Universidad Católica del Maule-Chile. The study sought to identify and analyze the epistemological and didactic conceptions about the nature of science (NOS) in initial teacher training. The work methodology considered the use of the qualitative focus group technique. A total of 34 students participated: 24 women (70%) and 10 men (30%). Regarding some findings, the research revealed a tendency of the students to conceive science from positivist epistemological assumptions and to make based primarily on the scientific method and experiments. However, the study also hints at the aspiration of future teachers to favor teaching science from practical didactic scenarios, imminently contextual and in contact with nature.