Analysis of the opinions of science teachers on Theory of Evolution

The theory of evolution is one of the theories that makes the best use of the experimental facts of biology, the nature of science that explains biological diversity, and the systematics of science. Taking the views of prospective science teachers about the systematics of the Theory of Evolution and the Theory of Evolution itself is important in terms of understanding the nature and systematics of science. For this reason, the aim of this research is to examine the opinions of pre-service science teachers about the Theory of Evolution. The research was carried out with 300 teacher candidates studying in Erzurum Atatürk University Kazım Karabekir Faculty of Education, Department of Mathematics and Science education, Science Education (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades). The mixed method was used as a research method in the research in order to determine the views of prospective teachers about the Theory of Evolution in depth. In the study, the Student Evolution Admission Inventory 'I-SEA', which was developed by (Nadelson, & Southerland, 2012) to determine the views of pre-service science teachers, was translated into Turkish and used in the light of expert opinions. The I-SEA used is a five-point Likert-type questionnaire with a total of 49 questions, including major evolution (19 questions), minor evolution (14 questions), and human evolution (16 questions). The reliability of I-SEA was 0.92 and the Croncbach-alpha value was 0.94. However, the Cronbach Alpha value was found to be 0.81 as a result of the reliability study performed again before the questionnaire was applied in this research. As a result of the research, it is seen that the answers given by the second year Science Teacher Candidates to I-SEA are closer to accepting the theory of evolution. The sub-dimensions (macro-evolution) major evolution, (micro-evolution) minor evolution and human evolution results were analyzed separately. In addition, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 20 Science Teacher Candidates and their views on the Theory of Evolution were taken. Obtained results were shown as frequency and percentage. As a result of the analyzes made, it was understood that 2nd grade science teacher candidates were more inclined to accept the theory of evolution compared to other grades (P<0.05). The level of acceptance of major evolution, which is a sub-dimension of the research, of the pre-service science teachers was found to be quite significant statistically (p=.004). As a result of the analyzes made on the micro-evolution, which is another sub-dimension of the theory of evolution, it was understood that the answers given by the Science Teacher Candidates to I-SEA did not show a statistically significant difference compared to the other classes (p=,668). The level of acceptance of the human evolution theory, which is another sub-dimension of the research, of the answers given by the pre-service science teachers to the I-SEA was found to be statistically significant (p= ,008). Finally, according to the results of the Chi-Square Test, there is a statistically significant difference between the male science teacher candidates and the female science teacher candidates I-SEA data in terms of their genders (p=,000). According to the results of the research, it was determined that female teacher candidates were more inclined to accept I-SEA and their evolution acceptance levels were higher.