Determination of Attitudes about Science of University Students

Year 2018, Volume: 10 , 52 - 56, 12.09.2018

Muzaffer Alkan Hicran Alkan Nur Akcanca

Abstract

In the preschool period,
one of the most important factors in the development of children as
inquisitive, curious, interested and sensitive individuals is their ability to
perceive and learn science. In this period, pre-school teachers and
child-educators are the person who will be able to love and teach science to
children. It is expected that the persons in this profession group will firstly
be in a positive attitude towards science so that they can grasp and associate
this knowledge with their daily life. The aim of this study is
to determine the attitudes of the child educators and prospective preschool
teachers towards science. In the 2017-2018 academic year, the students of the
Child Development Program and Pre-School Teachers Department students who are
in the 3rd and 4th grade at Kafkas University constitute the universe of work.
The sample group represents 118 students who agreed to participate in the
survey. Personal data form and "Scientific
Attitude Scale" which is developed by Geban et al. (1994), were used
as data collection tool. When the collected data were examined, it was
determined that the data showed normal distribution suitability. For this
reason, ANOVA and independent t-test analysis were used for the analysis of the
data. As a result of the statistical analyzes, there was no significant
difference between university students' attitudes toward science and their sex,
age and class. When the students are examined in terms of the areas they have
studied, a significant difference was found in favor of the child development
program (p<0.05). This result can be explained as the fact that the students
who continue to the child development program are mostly educated in the same
sections of the girls' vocational high schools in their upper secondary
education and they have gotten more applications in their fields.

Keywords

Child development program, Pre-school department, Science education

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