Pre‑Service Science Teachers'ʹ Pedagogical Orientations of Science Inquiry Continuum

Year 2015, Volume: 6 Issue: 11, 1 - 36, 01.06.2015

Eylem Yıldız Feyzioğlu

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the pedagogical orientation of a group of Turkish pre-­‐‑
service teachers towards inquiry. The participants in the study were 587 pre-­‐‑service science teachers
enrolled in five state universities in Turkey. The researcher developed a Pedagogy of Science Inquiry
Continuum Test (PoSICT). The PoSICT consists of six items designated as the six inquiry
characteristics of problem/question, procedures/design, results analysis, conclusions, alternative
conclusions, results communication. Each item of the test requires choosing one out of four choices
that correspond to changing levels of inquiry, starting from confirmation inquiry and ending with
open inquiry. The results of the research showed that the pre-­‐‑service teachers’ orientations were at the
structured inquiry level. Even though this orientation of the pre-­‐‑service teachers did not correspond to
a lower level of inquiry such as the confirmation level, the study found that the characteristics that
would require the student to think independently were given to the student by the teacher. The
reasons the pre-­‐‑service teachers gave for choosing their inquiry levels were students'ʹ prior knowledge,
the student'ʹs role and the teacher'ʹs role. These results indicate that when it is considered that the pre-­‐‑
service teachers were more oriented in a teacher-­‐‑centered pedagogy; changes must be made in their
inquiry experience.

Keywords

science inquiry, inquiry teaching, levels of inquiry, pre service science teacher.

References

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