Middle school in-service and prospective science teachers' views and knowledge about nature of science and scientific inquiry

In this study, the knowledge and opinions of middle school science teachers and prospective science teachers about the nature of science and scientific inquiry are investigated. The study included 36 science teachers and 16 prospective teachers. Views About Nature of Science, Views About Scientific Inquiry and Demographic Characteristics Questionnaires are used as data collevtion tools. Descriptive analysis method was used to analyze and interpret the data. According to the results; majority of the science teachers were naive in "theory and law are different concepts" while they are knowledgeable in "changeability of scientific knowledge" and "subjectivity of science"sub-dimensions. They have naive views in "data should be consistent with the results" while knowledgeable in "data and evidence are different concepts" and "questioning affects the results." Prospective science teachers were naive in "experiment and observation based science" and "theory and law are different concepts," while they were knowledgeable in "interchangeability of scientific knowledge" and "subjectivity of science." They are inadequate in "data should be consistent with the results," while they have transitional views in "data and evidence are different concepts" and "inquiry affects the result" sub-dimensions.