An Examination of University Students' Views of the Nature of Science Based on Their Epistemological Beliefs

Abstract

This study aims to examine the scientific epistemological beliefs of university students and to analyze their views on the nature of science on the basis of these beliefs. A total of 161 university students from a public university participated voluntarily in the study. The Scientific Epistemological Beliefs Survey and The Nature of Science View Scale (NOSVS) were used as the data collection tools. The data analysis revealed that 88.2% of the students hold a traditional conception of science and 11.8% of them have a non-traditional conception of science. Also, the analysis of their nature of science views showed that 49.7% of them have a contemporary, while 50.3% have a transitional view of the nature of science. In addition, it was found that factor and total scores of students' nature of science views have a statically significant difference, depending on their traditional and non-traditional conception of science. This finding can be interpreted as a significant relationship between scientific epistemological beliefs and views about the nature of science.