Nature of science in a virtual learning object for prospective science teachers

Our aim was to validate a virtual learning object (VLO) on an episode of the history of science in the 18th century to teach the nature of science (NOS). Implementation of the VLO in pre-service teacher education permitted to assess it in context. The historical episode that we selected concerned the studies of the naturalist Charles Bonnet, who produced arguments in favour of the idea of asexual reproduction in animals. We developed our VLO as a website, based on theoretical guidelines on the use of narratives in science education; we wrote a "science story" with short texts and material from primary sources. The narrative was interspersed with little pieces of enquiry based on authentic problems to discuss NOS. Analysis on the implementation of the VLO with prospective biology teachers produced positive results in terms of the identification of some "key ideas" of NOS.