Achieving the goal of a scientifically literate society greatly depends on teachers. This study assesses preservice elementary teachers’ conceptual understanding of scientific literacy. Study participants include 20 preservice elementary teachers registered in an advanced science methods course at a midsize university in the United States. A qualitative interview design with a semistructured interview format was used. The results of this study showed that preservice elementary teachers’ scientific literacy and knowledge of the nature of science required improvement to comply with science education reforms; however, they showed adequate understanding of the relationship among science, technology, and society.

实现科学文化社会的目标在很大程度上取决于教师。这项研究评估了职前小学教师对科学素养的概念理解。研究参与者包括在美国一所中型大学的高级科学方法课程中注册的20名职前基础教师。使用具有半结构化访谈格式的定性访谈设计。这项研究的结果表明，职前小学教师的科学素养和对科学本质的了解需要进行改进，以符合科学教育改革的要求；但是，他们对科学，技术和社会之间的关系表现出足够的了解。