The Relationship between Scientific Inquiry and Communication Skills with Beliefs about the Nature of Science of Pre-Service Science Teachers’

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the correlations between pre-service 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.