Determining the relationship between teachers candidate of critical thinking skills, nature of science beliefs and attitudes towards astronomy

In this study, prospective science teachers' critical thinking skills, attitudes towards astronomy, and their views on nature of science beliefs were examined. The group of the research consists of 265 students studying in 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades in the 2023-2024 academic year at 2 state universities in Konya and Antalya. In the study, scanning method, one of the descriptive research methods, was used to explain the problem in detail and to give a deeper meaning and to reveal the current situation objectively. The scanning method also provides an overview of the research topic, allowing the subject to be examined from a broad perspective and the current situation to be described objectively. To collect data in the research; The astronomy attitude scale developed by Canbazoğlu-Bilici, S., Öner-Armağan, F., Kozcu-Çakır, N. and Yürük, N. (2012), the science attitude scale developed by Özcan, İ., and Turgut, H. (2014) it was used with the nature beliefs scale and the achievement test developed by Eğmir, E. and Ocak, G. (2016) to measure critical thinking skills. In the study, correlation analysis, which is used in statistical analysis, was applied. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a low but significant relationship between prospective teachers' critical thinking skills and their attitudes towards astronomy, and a significant but moderate positive relationship between critical thinking and their attitudes towards the nature of science. Finally, when prospective teachers' attitudes towards the Nature of Science and astronomy were examined, it was seen that there was no significant relationship between the two. It is recommended that these subjects be included more in the science teaching curriculum, as they can help students develop their scientific thinking and critical analytical skills, especially by focusing on astronomy.