The effect of currently happening events with broad impact on prospective science teachers? views about the nature of science

The purposes of this study were to determine the effect of presentations and instruction about ?Currently Happening Events with Broad Impact? on teacher candidates? views of the nature of science.A mixed methods research was employed in this study with one group pretest-posttest experimental group design. Mixed methods research is defined as a method of research in which both quantitative and qualitative techniques are used. Thus, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed separately and were combined in driving the conclusions.The study was conducted with participation of 3th year pre-service science teachers (N=25) and pre-service elementary teachers (N=25) during fall and spring semesters of 2009-2010 academic year. First, teacher candidates? views of the nature of science were probed by the Views on Nature of Science (VNS) questionnaire and their attitudes towards science teaching were determined by Science Teaching Attitude Scales II (STAS-II). Second, the researcher prepared a presentation about ?Currently Happening Events with Broad Impact? and utilized it during a three week instruction period in both semesters. After the instruction, both questionnaires were administered once more as post-tests. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to verify and understand participants? views in more detail.As a result, it was found that the presentations and the instruction positively affected the pre-service teachers? views on the nature of science and their attitudes toward science teaching.Key Words: Science Education, Scientific Literacy, Nature of Science, Current Events, Attitudes toward Science Teaching