Determination of gifted 4th grade students' scientific process skills by using pseudoscientific applications

The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of gifted and talented 4th grade primary school students towards pseudoscience, as well as their awareness of scientific process skills by using pseudoscientific scenarios. Specifically, the aim is to reveal the students' knowledge about crystals, which is a pseudoscientific issue, views on treatments carried out with crystals, experiences about experiments, knowledge about scientific process skills and scientific process skills used in proposing research methodology for claims about crystals' healing abilities. This research was properly designed using one of the qualitative research methods, namely descriptive patterns. A total of 21, 4th grade students studying at a private school, accredited by the Ministry of Education, and living in İzmir and İstanbul participated in the study; eight girls and twelve boys all of whom were identified as gifted according to the WISC-R test. Their participation in the research was on a voluntary basis. The data was collected through semi-structured interview forms. The students were provided with questions both about the crystals, one of the subject of pseudoscientific claims and pseudoscientific scenarios and about making experiment and scientific process skills and were asked to give their views on these claims and scenarios. The data obtained by using descriptive analysis. The findings were interpreted considering the properties of gifted and talented students. According to the findings, it is found that although gifted and talented 4th grade students do not trust crystal treatments, they try them out of curiosity and because they love new experiments. The majority of gifted and talented 4th grade students tried to set logic by using their previous knowledge about crystals treatments. The students were not aware of the deceptive and trading profit purposes of the pseudo-scientific applications. The students are prone to believe in pseudo-scientific claims. Within the scope of scientific process skills, it was determined that the students had low level of preliminary knowledge about scientific process skills, and it was observed that they usually performed demonstration experiments in their schools. Gifted and talented students cannot present a research method when they first meet pseudo-scientific claims because they do not have experience in a research process but when they meet a sample with incomplete designed and correctly designed different research methods they become aware of scientific process skills -even if they do not know the names of scientific process skills- and they mostly try the research process designed by them. Keywords: Pseudoscience, Crystal Healing, Scientific Process Skills, Gifted and Talented Children