Science students', and prospective teachers' views toward ontological dimensions of scientific knowledge

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the views of students, pre-service science teachers and science teachers about the basic concepts that are at the center of the structuring process of scientific knowledge, to determine the entities that are the source of scientific knowledge, how they make sense of it, and what kind of knowledge structures they belong to. On the other hand, throughout the research, it is aimed to investigate students', prospective science teachers' and science teachers' perceptions of reality and to determine the effects of these perceptions on misconceptions and to make suggestions. The scanning design of the mixed method was used within the scope of the study. In this context, firstly, Scientific Factuality Questionnaire (BOA) was developed to determine ontological views on heat and temperature, and a semi-structured Interview on Ontological Dimensions of Scientific Knowledge (BBOBYG) Form for heat-temperature to obtain in-depth information. has been prepared. BOA was applied randomly to a total of 345 seventh grade students, 106 science teacher candidates and 96 science teachers. Students stated that the students memorized the definitions, confused the concepts of heat and temperature, that the heat was visible except for 13 people, and it smoked like steam. On the subject of transmission, the students, except for 10 students, stated that warmth and coldness are transmitted. The knowledge structure of 21 of these students is theory-like, and 7 students show the fragmented knowledge structure. On the subject of thermal insulation, 15 people have a fragmented knowledge structure and 13 people have a theory-like knowledge structure. Eight of the pre-service teachers made the definitions correctly and their information is consistent. Although 7 people made the definitions correctly, inconsistency was observed in the questions that followed. 1 person confused the definitions of heat and temperature. In the category of presence of heat, 6 pre-service teachers thought that heat can be seen. 3 pre-service teachers stated that the heat is seen as smoking. In the category of sensation of heat, no sensation of heat and temperature was observed in 8 people. Sensation was detected in 8 people. The information of 4 people showed the characteristics of fragmented knowledge, and the knowledge of 4 people showed the feature of a theoretical knowledge structure. Of the pre-service teachers (8 people) who used the expression of energy in the transmission of heat, 5 of them showed similar features to theory-like knowledge structure and 3 people showed similar features to particle knowledge. Of the 5 pre-service teachers who used the expression of warmth and coldness transmission, 3 people showed the feature of particle knowledge structure and 2 people showed the feature of theory knowledge structure. The opinions of 3 pre-service teachers who stated that there was particle transmission showed features compatible with the theory of particle information structure. While the idea of thermal insulation was mostly (9 people) consistent and showed the feature of theory knowledge structure, 3 people showed features of particle information theory. It was determined that the thoughts of the pre-service teachers who had misconceptions in thermal insulation were formed in a theory-like structure. Teachers gave consistent and accurate information about the definition. Although they frequently use the term heat flow in the presence of heat category, they stated that there is no liquid or gas-like behavior. There was no sensation of heat and temperature. Except for 1, all the teachers showed the characteristics of the theory knowledge structure that energy will be transmitted. 1 teacher showed the feature of fragmented knowledge structure. Except for one person, the idea of heat insulation in all teachers shows the theory structure. The misconception statement given by 1 teacher has a particle structure. Keywords: Heat and temperature, knowledge structure, misconception, ontology