A Comparison of the Attitudes of Science Students in the Primary School Education Departments of the Faculties of Education towards Science in terms of a Number of Variables

Abstract

The aim of this research is to .determine prospective teachers’ attitudes toward* science. The sample consisted of a total of 409 students the Science Department of Demirci Faculty of Education of Celal Bayar University (n=205) and Buca Faculty of Education of Dokuz. Eylül University (n= 204). In this study, a “Scale for Attitudes Towards Science”, the validity and the reliability of which were provided by Gürdal (1997), and a "Personal Information Form” were administered to the sample. The data were analysed through such descriptive statistical techniques such as ANOVA and t-Test.This research results show that prospective teachers’ attitudes towards science are at an average level. It has also been determined that students’ attitudes towards science vary significantly in terms of their departments and of their level of satisfaction with the education they get. However, the students’ attitudes towards science do not vary significantly in terms of gender, type of high school they graduated from, their grand averages at high school, their parents’ education and other demographic characteristics.