Investigating the pre-service science teachers' conceptions about scientific inquiry research

The following study presents the analysis of the conceptions of 40 future teachers when they are presented with a practical case related to the thermal properties of materials. This case is proposed as an experimental activity in which students must develop and reflect on the strategies of scientific research processes. For this, they are induced to explain: 1. The hypothesis from which they start to respond to the predetermined problem, 2. The experimental design to address it, 3. The results and 4. The conclusions obtained. The results indicate the existence of two tendencies, a majority related to a common sense thinking and another more counter-intuitive and scientific to explain natural phenomena.