THE INFLUENCES OF ELEMENTARY SCIENCE TEACHING METHOD COURSES ON A TURKISH TEACHERS COLLEGE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION MAJOR STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS SCIENCE AND SCIENCE TEACHING

The main purpose of this study was to find the influences of elementary science teaching method courses on Turkish elementary education major students' attitudes toward science and science teaching in a Turkish Teachers College. The results of both pre and post-test scores showed that elementary education major students have positive attitudes toward science and science teaching. Statistically, only one significant positive change (pair-wise t-tests) was found between the pre and post-test scores; that is, students significantly gained more positive attitudes toward science teaching. On the other hand, the mean difference after taking elementary science teaching method courses did not show a significant result on the attitudes toward science. As a result of this study, it can be concluded that Elementary science teaching method courses have a positive influence on attitudes toward science teaching but this conclusion is not the same for the attitudes toward science.