Özet:

The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of gifted students with regard to science and scientists. The research was qualitative in nature and participants were 24 (12 female, 12 male) gifted middle school students who have training at Sinop Science and Art Center. The data source of the study was the Perception of Science Form (PSF) comprising six open ended questions that was developed by the researchers. The responses given to the questions of PSF focusing on perceptions of students with regard to science and scientists were examined by content analysis technique. The findings of the study revealed that students perceive science as an accumulation of knowledge that must be learned with a notion of school science. They emphasized empirical confirmation in the context of knowledge production and focused on the products of science rather than the process, consistently with their behavior in defining science. The empirical confirmation stresses of the students were also perceived in their drawings of scientist in the form of lab environments and lab coats. The other patterns observed in the perceptions of students with regard to scientists were glasses and facial growth of hair.