Development of a Scale on Scientific Epistemological Views and Investigation of Epistemological Views of Prospective Teachers

Abstract

The aim of this research was to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool (SSEV) for the determination of the epistemological views of prospective teachers, and to use this scale to elicit the epistemological views of prospective teachers in Turkey. The application was conducted with 930 participants. SSEV was found to account for 48% of the total variance in the participants’ epistemological views. SSEV consisted of three sub-dimensions; “authority and accuracy in scientific knowledge”, “methodological approach and scientific attitude”, and “nature of scientific knowledge”. The ω, r, and α reliability coefficients for the whole scale were found to be .868, .838 and .861, respectively. In terms of the results it can be stated that SSEV is a valid and reliable scale to measure teacher candidates’ epistemological views. The prospective teachers that constituted the sample of this research generally had mature epistemological views at a slightly higher level than moderate. It was found that the developed/mature epistemological views of the participants were at a high level for the authority and accuracy sub-dimension, above the moderate level for the methodological approaches and scientific attitude, and at a moderate level for nature of scientific knowledge.