Determination of prospective teachers' attitudes for general chemistry course and problem-solving skills

In this study, it is aimed to examine the attitudes of the pre-service teachers studying in classroom teaching and science teaching undergraduate programs towards the general chemistry course and their perceptions about problem solving skills. Survey method, one of the quantitative research approaches, was used in the research process. The study group of the research consists of 280 classroom teacher candidates and 211 science teacher candidates in the Faculty of Education at Kastamonu University. Participants are determined with the appropriate sampling method and they are studying in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades. Since quantitative approaches are used in the research, quantitative data collection tools are also preferred as data collection tools. In this context, the tools in the literature that have been valid and reliable have been used before. Firstly, Chemistry Course Interest and Attitude Scale-CCIAS, which was developed by İnce Aka (2012), was used to determine the attitudes of prospective teachers towards chemistry lesson. Then, "Prolem Solving Inventory-PSI" adapted to Turkish by Şahin, Şahin & Heppner (1993) was used to examine the problem solving skills of prospective teachers. Descriptive and inferential statistics techniques were used in the analysis of the research data. Descriptive statistics are expressed using frequency, percentage and arithmetic mean tables, inferential statistics are expressed by independent groups t-test, correlation test and ANOVA test. As a result of the research, it has been determined that there is a significant difference in prospective teachers' attitudes towards chemistry lesson and their views on problem solving skills. Variables with significant differences; gender, branch, grade level, type of school graduated, and general chemistry course grade point average variables. In addition, a positive correlation was found between the attitudes of prospective teachers towards chemistry lesson and their problem solving skills.