The effect of material designs developed for science education in preschool period on pre-service teachers' critical, creative and innovative thinking skills

This study examined the effect of material designs developed for science education in the preschool period on pre-service teachers' critical, creative and innovative thinking skills. Eighty-five preschool teachers in the faculty of education of a state university participated in the study. In the research process, quasi-experimental design, one of the quantitative research approaches, was preferred. Three scales measuring critical, creative and innovative thinking skills were used as data collection tools. Pre-service teachers were provided to design materials for six weeks in the research process. Pre-test before the application and post-test applications were carried out after the application. The data obtained in the research were subjected to quantitative data analysis. In this context, descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used. As a result of the research, it was determined that the critical, creative and innovative thinking skills of pre-service preschool teachers created significant differences in favour of post-tests. At the same time, it can be stated that essentialpre-service teachers', creative and innovative thinking tendencies increased as a result of material design.