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The intervention study presented in this paper explored pre-service science teachers' (PSSTs) understanding of scientific inquiry (SI) and scientific practices (SPs) during a laboratory application in science education course. Thirty-nine secondary school PSSTs, who study in the Science Education Department in a public university in Turkey, enrolled in a 14-week-long course and volunteered to participate in the study. The participants were exposed to a method is called the 4-phase implementation that includes laboratory-based inquiry activities addressing SI and SPs and they completed microteaching presentations. Their understanding of SI and SPs was examined through the course period. The main data sources included Views about Scientific Inquiry (VASI) Instrument and concept maps were used to track the changes in these understandings. The findings indicated that PSSTs had inadequate understanding of inquiry on some aspects even after the treatment. Yet, the method had positive impact in PSSTs' understanding inquiry especially in terms of facilitating the comprehension that scientific investigations begin with questions, there is no single method in investigations, and explanations are derived from collected data. The concept maps created by some of the participants also supported these results and revealed a more coherent and holistic understanding of SPs by integrating both epistemic and social components into their maps. However, PSSTs did not seem to have totally understood other aspects of inquiry including the inquiry procedures, the research conclusions, and the difference between data and evidence. Further implications are critically discussed in terms of designing future laboratory applications for science education courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to determine the correlations between preservice science teachers’ beliefs about the nature of science and their scientific inquiry and communication skills. The study group of the research was composed of 329 pre-service science teachers who are studying at Aydın Adnan Menderes and Muğla Universities of Turkey during the academic year of 2018-2019. The data were obtained by using “Beliefs about the Nature of Science Scale” and “Skills Learning Science Scale”. In addition to descriptive statistics, independent samples t test, one-way analysis of variance and stepwise multiple regression analyses were used in the analysis of the data. The result of the study indicated that pre-service science teachers had nearly “Acceptable” beliefs about the nature of science. Their scientific inquiry and communication skills were found to be nearly “High”. In this study, it was concluded that imagination and creativity, assumptions and boundaries of science and observation and inference, explained approximately 12 % of the variance in scientific inquiry skills. In addition, it was concluded that assumptions and boundaries of science, imagination and creativity and observation and inference, explained approximately 13 % of the variance in communication skills. In light of the findings, suggestions were presented at the end of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pamukkale University Journal of Education is the property of Pamukkale University Journal of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The convenience sample used in the study reported on here consisted of 91 students enrolled in the primary and middle school Postgraduate Certificate in Education course for 2 consecutive years at a South African university. We used the Student Understanding of Science and Science Inquiry instrument to answer questions about these students' knowledge of the nature of science and scientific inquiry compared to that published for pre-service primary and middle school teachers from China, Turkey, and the United States of America (USA), whether the changes proposed for the instrument enhanced its reliability, and whether any correlation could be found to these students' age and educational factors. The findings show that these South African student teachers shared similar levels of knowledge of the nature of science and scientific inquiry to their counterparts from Turkey and the USA, all of which were less sophisticated than that of the Chinese students. The test was found to have a high degree of reliability in the South African context, with the proposed changes to the instrument doing little to enhance this. The older students and those who did not study any tertiary science or mathematics courses scored statistically significantly higher. We suggest that the confirmatory nature of tertiary practical science work and exposure to the complexity of science in postgraduate work or employment in industry could explain these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze the science activities offered at 7th grade in the Turkish science and technology curriculum along with addressing the curriculum's original intent. We refer to several science education researchers' ideas, including Chinn & Malhotra's (Science Education, 86:175-218, ) theoretical framework and Edelson's () conceptualization of authentic science practices in our analyses. Our primary goal is to critique the science and technology curriculum and then offer alternative insights into learning science and doing science about force and motion concepts at 7th grade from epistemological and sociological perspectives. We introduce an Immersion Unit for teaching and learning the concepts of force and motion and discuss the elements of this immersion approach. Finally, we provide recommendations for designing and implementing similar immersion units for the science activities that are in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Theory & Practice in Education (JTPE) / Eğitimde Kuram ve Uygulama is the property of Journal of Theory & Practice in Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Gazi University Journal of Gazi Educational Faculty (GUJGEF) is the property of Gazi University Journal of Gazi Educational Faculty (GUJGEF) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)