Recent reforms in science education have promoted students’ understanding of how science works, including the methodological approaches used by scientists. Given that teachers are expected to teach and promote methodological pluralism, it is worth examining how teachers understand and view scientific methods, particularly when scientific methods are presented as a diverse array and not as a linear model based exclusively on hypothesis testing. The empirical study presented in the paper examines science teachers’ understanding of scientific methods, particularly the diversity of scientific methods. Brandon’s Matrix, a philosopher’s account of scientific methods, has been adapted for educational purposes, and two tasks were developed in order to investigate teachers’ understanding of scientific methods. Fifty-six science teachers (25% male, 75% female) from different regions in the UK responded to an online survey. The results showed that the majority of the teachers showed satisfactory understanding of basic components of Brandon’s Matrix. However, more than half of the sample held naïve understanding of scientific methods. By providing insight into teachers’ misconceptions about scientific methods, the study provides suggestions for the design of teacher training programmes and highlights the need for explicit instruction about scientific methods. In addition, we suggest the use of heuristics such as Brandon’s Matrix for the development of pedagogical tools as well as research instruments.

最近科学教育的改革促进了学生对科学如何运作的理解，包括科学家使用的方法论方法。鉴于期望教师教授和促进方法论多元化，值得研究教师如何理解和看待科学方法，特别是当科学方法被呈现为多样化的阵列而不是完全基于假设检验的线性模型时。论文中提出的实证研究考察了科学教师对科学方法的理解，特别是科学方法的多样性。Brandon's Matrix 是哲学家对科学方法的描述，已被改编用于教育目的，并制定了两项任务以调查教师对科学方法的理解。来自英国不同地区的 56 名科学教师（25% 男性，75% 女性）对一项在线调查做出了回应。结果显示，大部分教师对布兰登矩阵的基本组成部分表现出满意的理解。然而，超过一半的样本对科学方法的理解很幼稚。通过深入了解教师对科学方法的误解，该研究为教师培训计划的设计提供了建议，并强调了对科学方法进行明确指导的必要性。此外，我们建议使用诸如布兰登矩阵之类的启发式方法来开发教学工具和研究工具。