The Differences in Senior Turkish Pre-service Elementary Science Teachers' Conceptions of Learning Science with respect to Gender and Socio-Economic Status

Abstract

This study explored the differences in the senior Turkish preservice elementary science teachers’ conceptions of learning science by gender and socio-economic status (SES). The Conceptions of Learning Science (COLS) questionnaire was adapted into Turkish and administered to 379 preservice elementary science teachers from seven universities in different regions of Turkey. The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to explore the differences. According to results, males and females differed on their mean scores on ‘memorizing’ and ‘testing’ dimensions of COLS questionnaire. While males had higher scores on ‘memorizing’ and ‘testing’ dimensions of COLS questionnaire than females, males and females had similar scores on ‘calculate and practice’, ‘increase of knowledge’ , ‘applying’ , and ‘understanding and seeing in a new way’ dimensions of COLS questionnaire. Mean scores on dimensions of COLS questionnaire were not significantly different with respect to SES. In addition, the results pointed out that there was no significant interaction between gender and SES. © 2014 IOJES. All rights reserved