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The development of the nature of science view scale (NOSvs) at university level |
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| Authors: | Senar Temel ?enol ?en Özgür Özcan |
| Institution: | 1. Faculty of Education, Department of Chemistry Education, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey;2. Faculty of Education, Department of Physics Education, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey |
| Abstract: | 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. |
| Keywords: | Confirmatory factor analysis nature of science nature of science view scale prospective teacher |