This study was conducted to describe the relationship between preservice elementary teachers' competency in science process skills and their attitudes toward science. The instrument selected to measure science process skills was the Test of Integrated Process Skills II (TIPSII). A revision of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales (SAS) was used as a predictor of the subjects' attitudes toward science. The SAS consisted of six subscales also examined in the study. The hypothesis for the study stated that elementary preservice teachers who demonstrated a high competency in process skills would also indicate positive attitudes toward science. The data was collected while subjects were enrolled in an elementary math and science methods course during their first senior semester just before student teaching. Analysis of the data indicated a significant positive correlation between elementary preservice teachers' ability to perform science process skills and their attitudes toward science. Upon analyzing the data collected on the six subscales, a significant positive correlation was found between the TIPS II and the Confidence in Learning Science Scale and the Teacher Scale.
This study was an investigation of preservice elementary teachers' science process skills and the questioning strategies used during a discovery science lesson. The TestofIntegrated Process Skills 11(TIPS 11) was the instrument used to measure process skills. Two hypotheses were tested through the use of independent t-tests. In the first analysis, the High TIPS 11 group asked significantly more questions during the science lesson than did the Low TIPS 11 group. In the second analysis, the High TIPS11group asked significantly more divergent, high-level, and divergent/high-level questions than did the Low TIPS 11 group. 64
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