Development and implementation of stereotyped thought scale for science courses

In this study, the aim is to show the candidate teachers' stereotyped thoughts on the science course by developing a valid and reliable scale, and with this established scale, the purpose of the analysis is determined as to decide whether there is a significant difference depending on the relationship between the potential teachers ' stereotyped thoughts on the science courses with the secondary school they have graduated from, their academic achievement, and to show whether it differs according to gender, grade level, department and university they are studying. This research is descriptive research model study from the quantitative research patterns since it has developed a scale and the implementation steps of the developed scale was followed. Stratified sampling method was used to determine the sample and the data collection process of the study was conducted with three working groups. The study groups consisted of 302 (AFA), 309 (DFA) and 1627 (Practice) students. SPSS 22.00 program was used for data analysis. Developed scale consists of five factors and according to exploratory factor analysis; Factor 1, had explained 30,09% of the total variance, Factor 2 explained 12,18%, Factor 3 explained 6,87%, Factor 4 explained 5,20%, Factor 5 explained 4,26%, while we see that the developed scale explained 58,63% of the total variance. As a result, a structure that is consisting of 5 dimensions and 28 items was established. It was found that the five factors have a correlational relationship with each other and Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient of the whole scale was found to be .81. Factors that are used on the stereotyped scale of science were not renamed, and "Excess Generalization", "Labeling", "Discretionary Deduction", "Polarization" and "Optional Abstraction" names were used. According to Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the whole scale, Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient of the whole scale is .93. 3 (three) of the data obtained by the CFA were acceptable and 1 (one) was excellent. When stereotyped opinions of candidate teachers in class education and science education departments are examined qualitatively, it is seen that response was being "indecisive" with 3.18. A significant difference determined between the candidate teachers' stereotyped thoughts about science courses and their gender and it is concluded that male students have more stereotyped thoughts about science than female students. Between the stereotyped thoughts about science course and the department they studied, it was concluded that science education students had more stereotyped thoughts than classroom education students. It was found out that the 3rd grade students had more stereotyped thoughts than the other grades among the stereotypical thoughts of the teacher candidates towards the classroom and science courses. While there was no significant difference between high-school they graduated from and year-end academic achievement scores of candidate teachers and stereotyped thought scale for science courses, but a statistically significant difference was determined between the universities they study in. It was found that, as the academic achievement scores and grade levels of candidate teachers increased, stereotyped thoughts against science were also increased, according to the results obtained from the report. It is suggested that new case studies analyze the reasons for this result, assess the stereotyped thought period of the candidate teachers and arrange the classroom environment and course framework accordingly. In addition, according to the research findings, it is seen that the total scores of candidate teachers' stereotyped thoughts about science course, correspond to the "indecisive" range of Labeling, Polarization, Optional Abstraction subscales' views. It indicates that the "indecisive" interval is a critical range that may tend to decrease and increase, and if they are not correctly navigated, there may be an increase in the irrational and unrealistic ideas they create against science. In this context, the success of the students in science courses can be altered by making different studies on the determination of stereotyped thoughts.