Determination of Attitudes about Science of University Students

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.