The effects of the predict-observe-explain method and the research inquiry method on the science teacher candidates' science reasoning skills and academic success

The main purpose of this research is to test the effects of the predict-observe-explain method and the research inquiry method on the scientific reasoning skills and academic success of science teacher candidates. This research was carried out online via Teams for 12 weeks with 52 prospective teachers studying in the 3rd grade of the Science Education Department of the Faculty of Education at Akdeniz University in the Spring Semester of the 2022-2023 Academic Year. The number of teacher candidates taking the Science Education Laboratory Applications 2 course for the first time is 48. There is no one taking the course for the second time, and the number of teacher candidates taking it from above is 4. The class was divided into two different groups in a random distribution. When creating the groups, the school numbers in the class list were taken into consideration. Since the order in the list was directly proportional to the order of school entry, the odd-numbered ones were selected as one group and the even-numbered ones as the second group, thus ensuring a homogeneous distribution. In the first group, the course was taught using the POE method with 26 prospective teachers, while in the second group, the course was taught using the Research Inquiry method with 26 prospective teachers. In the study, a pre-test post-test control design, one of the quantitative research techniques, was used. The relevant methods were applied to the first and second groups until the end of the term. During the research process, an Achievement Test was developed within the scope of the 3rd Grade Laboratory course curriculum of Science Teaching. The science laboratory achievement test of the 3rd grade science teacher candidates and the analysis test to determine the scientific reasoning skills of the 3rd grade teacher candidates were used to collect data. As a result, it was concluded that scientific reasoning skills have a positive effect on the increase in academic success in the study and the analyses are significant. When the effects of the Inquiry, Inquiry and predict-observe-explain methods on academic success are examined, it is seen that both methods give positive and significant results. In other words, the methods are effective in increasing academic success. It was observe that these two methods have an active role in the development of scientific reasoning skills and the increase in academic success, but due to the change that occurs in equal amounts, it cannot be commented that one method is more effective than the other, and the results are not significant as a result of the analyses. Keywords: Prediction and Visual Explanation Method, Research Inquiry Method, Teaching in Science Laboratory, Scientific Reasoning, Academic Success.