| Popis: |
Science and scientific knowledge has gained big momentum for the last decades. This enables many countries to focus on scientific knowledge, moving away from outmoded educational approaches in primary educational curricula. In the contemporary world, in which scientific literacy really matters, science classes have finally started to attract the attention it deserves. The study aims at detecting the beliefs of science teacher candidates on teaching of the nature of activity-based science and the effects of such teaching on their scientific attitudes and process skills. The study was held on 22 teacher candidates who were taught in the science teaching department for primary schools of a big-scaled university in the Turkish city of Istanbul during the first semester of 2008-2009 schooling year. In the study, pre-test and post-test assessment model with single group was used (Büyüköztürk et al, 2009). The study had directly been made by the researchers for eight weeks in total. The classes in the scope of the study were constructed on the basis of direct teaching activities. Data of the study were collected by means of a ‘scientific process skills’ scale with 36 questions, a ‘scientific attitude scale’ with 40 questions, and a series of interviews with the teacher candidates. Findings of the study were assessed by using a paired sample t-test on SPSS program, qualitative statistical techniques and content analyses. Results of the study showed that teaching of the nature of activity-based science affected on scientific process skills in a positive manner. It was also found that there was no significant difference between the scientific attitudes of the teacher candidates from each group upon their pre-tests and post-tests although all of the teacher candidates’ scientific attitudes were ‘good.’ When the views of the candidates were analyzed on nature of science, it was seen that their explanations on teaching nature of science were positive in general. |
