Investigation of digital citizenship levels of prospective science teachers in terms of various variables

This study was conducted using a survey model to determine the digital citizenship levels of science teacher candidates and to examine these levels in terms of different variables. The sample of this research consisted of 50 university students studying in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades of the Science Education Department at Firat University during the 2021-2022 academic year. "Personal Information Form" and "Digital Citizenship Scale" were used as data collection tools. According to the findings obtained, the digital citizenship dimensions of the participating teacher candidates showed significant differences in digital communication, digital ethics, digital access, and digital rights point averages according to gender; however, digital health, digital security, and digital commerce point averages did not show significant differences according to gender. It was observed that the digital citizenship dimensions of science teacher candidates did not show statistically significant differences according to grade and age levels, but showed statistically significant differences according to income levels. In addition, it was found that the digital citizenship dimensions of teacher candidates did not show statistically significant differences according to the use of laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet PCs, and smartphones as internet access devices. Based on the results obtained in this study, it is seen that conducting quantitative and qualitative research on digital citizenship and determining the education to be given to teacher candidates and the content to be carried out in these trainings is important.