Understanding of Basic Science Concepts: Does Taking More Science Courses Matter?

This study aimed to examine and compare pre-service elementary and science teachers’ understanding of basic science concepts. A total of 353 fourth-year elementary and science education majors (272 female and 81 male), from a large public university in northwestern Turkey, participated in the study. A Scientific Knowledge Test, which was compiled from the National Science Foundation's Survey of Public Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Science and Technology, was used as the data collection instrument. Results showed that science education majors scored significantly higher on the Scientific Knowledge Test. Participants from the two programs had similar views on astrology and human evolution. Approximately 89 percent of them rated astrology as ‘scientific’ and only 24 percent endorsed human evolution. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine their views on these two topics. Interview findings showed that pre-service elementary and science teachers have similar misconceptions about astrology, evolution, and nature of science. It was concluded that although taking more science courses provides better understanding of basic science concepts, there are still critical misconceptions to overcome and teacher education programs need to adress these issues.