In recent years, the nature of science in the education of scientifically literate individuals has been emphasized, especially in science education. Accordingly, studies on the development of individuals’ understanding of the nature of science are pertinent. In this context, this study investigates the effect of two different teaching methods, which were designed based on the argumentation-based inquiry approach and socioscientific issues, on pre-service science teachers’ understanding of the nature of science. This study was conducted in accordance with the mixed method, with the participation of 82 pre-service science teachers within the scope of the nature of science and history of science course. Different data collection tools were used in the study to provide data diversity. The data collection tools include Views on the Nature of Science-C questionnaire, rubrics, and socioscientific scenarios. As a result of the holistic evaluation of the qualitative and quantitative findings obtained from the research, it was observed that the involvement of pre-service teachers in the learning process contributed to the development of understanding of the nature of science. In this context, based on the research results, it can be said that the argumentation based inquiry approach and learning environments based on socioscientific issues are effective in the development of individuals’ understanding of the nature of science.