Abstract:

The aim of the study is to examine the opinions of preservice science teachers concerning the nature of science and to determine whether or not the preservice teachers’ opinions differ according to their academic level. A total of 242 preservice science teachers, who studied in the Education Faculty of Inonu University, Turkey, during the 2013-2014 academic year took part in the study. In order to evaluate the opinions of the preservice teachers, eight questions from the Questionnaire of Opinions for Technology and The Nature of Science were used. The original questionnaire is comprised of 20 questions chosen from a larger questionnaire called Opinions Concerning Science, Technology and Society, developed by Aikenhead, Fleming, and Ryan (1989) empirically, and consists of eight categories and 114 multiple-choice questions, and was translated and then adapted into Turkish by specialists in the field. The data obtained were analyzed by means of SPSS 21.0 Statistics program. In analysis of the data, the frequency and percentages were checked and x-square test applied. At the end of the research, it was detected that candidate Science teachers hold a realistic point of view as to the changeability of scientific knowledge, an acceptable point of view as to the definition of science, the interaction of science and technology, and the effect of science and technology on solving social problems. On the other hand, they have an insufficient point of view as to the epistemological condition of hypotheses, theories, laws, and scientific knowledge. According to the academic level factor, it was detected that there was an effect of science and technology on solving social problems, and a dramatic difference as to the epistemological condition of hypotheses, theories, laws, and scientific knowledge. However, there was no dramatic difference seen in terms of the questions on the definition of science, the interaction between science and technology, the changeability of scientific knowledge, and the epistemological condition of scientific knowledge.

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