Examination of the relationship between pre-service teachers' attitudes towards socioscientific issues and their scientific inquiry skills

In this study, the attitudes of prospective teachers in different branches towards socioscientific issues and their scientific inquiry skills were examined according to various variables. Variables consist of gender, branch, family socioeconomic level, parents education level and class level. Then, the relationship between these variables was investigated. Relational screening, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study. In examining the relationship between teacher candidates SBKYT and their scientific SB in terms of various variables, it was preferred to use this method to determine the relationship between the variables. The data was collected from teacher candidates in different branches at various universities in the 2023-2024 academic year. The population of the research is teacher candidates studying in education faculties in Turkey. The sample of the research is teacher candidates who are studying at education faculties in Turkey in the fall and spring semester of the 2023-2024 academic year and can be reached. The study was carried out with the participation of 345 people. The "Attitude Scale Towards Socioscientific Issues" developed by Topçu (2010) and the "Inquiry Skills Scale" developed by Aldan Karademir and Saracaloğlu (2013) were used. In the research, the scales were examined in general terms, not in their sub-dimensions. The results of the research revealed that teacher candidates attitudes towards socioscientific issues did not differ significantly according to various variables. According to the results of this study, no statistically significant difference could be determined between SB and gender, family socioeconomic status, father's education level and mother's education level. However, when inquiry skills were examined in terms of branch, it was determined that there was a significant difference between science teacher candidates and other branches. This difference is in favor of teacher candidates in other branches. According to the grade level variable, it was determined that the questioning skills of fourth grade candidates were higher than those of third grade candidates. It was determined that there was a positive and weak relationship between attitudes towards socioscientific issues and scientific inquiry skills. In the light of the findings, recommendations were made for both researchers and practitioners.