Background: Determining individuals’ views of the nature of science is quite important for researchers since it is both a component of scientific literacy and a fundamental aim of science education.
Purpose: This study aims to develop a NOSvs for assessing prospective teachers’ views of the nature of science and to analyse their psychometric properties.
Sample: A total of 565 prospective teachers participated in the study.
Design and methods: The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) Index and Bartlett’s Sphericity Test were used in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to determine the construct validity of the scale. Cronbach’s Alpha (α) coefficient was calculated for the reliability of the study.
Results: It was consequently found that the KMO was larger than .50. That Bartlett’s Sphericity Test was also statistically significant. The items with item-total correlations smaller than .30 were removed from the scale. Cronbach’s α values calculated for each sub-scale were above .70. In consequence of the first CFA performed, fit indices were found to be below the expected level. For this reason, three more items with the least item-total correlations were removed from the scale. Following the CFA, the final form of the scale included 36 items and five sub-scales. 相似文献
Reflective-thinking skills are important in problem-based learning environments as they help learners become deeply engaged
in learning. The literature suggests several instructional-design factors (e.g., environment, teaching methods, scaffolding
tools) that may prompt reflection in learners. However, it is unclear whether these factors differ based on age or developmental
stage. The results of this study indicate that middle-school students perceive the learning environment factor as more important to prompting their thinking, while college students perceive the scaffolding methods factor as more important. While the elements clustered into two factors, most college students disagreed with their helpfulness
in prompting reflective thinking, a finding opposite to that obtained for middle-school students. Different patterns were
also found between learners’ perceptions of the most helpful elements within each factor. Based on these results, suggestions
are given for designing developmentally and age-appropriate PBL learning environments that support reflective thinking. 相似文献
