ÖZGELEN, Sinan Mersin University - School of Education - Elementary Science Education, Turkey , YILMAZ-TÜZÜN, Özgül Middle East Technical University - School of Education - Elementary Science Education, Turkey

The Factors that Mediate Preservice Science Teachers’ Understanding of Nature of Science

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The purpose of the study is to explore the factors that mediate preservice science teachers’ (PSTs) understanding of nature of science (NOS). This study was conducted during the LaboratoryApplication in Science II course and totally 50 PSTs joined the study voluntarily. The laboratory course was designed under the inquiry-based instruction. The design of the study was qualitative and exploratory in nature. During the semester, reflection papers were collected to understand PSTs’ experiences with the intervention every week. At the end of the semester, semi-structured interviews were conducted to determine the impact of the inquiry-based laboratory instruction. All of the data were analyzed at the end of the semester and determined factors that mediate PSTs’ NOS understanding. Findings revealed that three main factors; discussions and presentations, using inquiry skills, and doing inquiry-based laboratory activities were determined as factors that lead to development of PSTs NOS understanding. Furthermore, intervention also developed PSTs perspectives about teaching NOS.

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Nature of science , Inquiry based instruction , Science laboratory , Preservice science teachers

Mersin University Journal Of The Faculty Of Education

74