In this study, the scale of “Instrument to Measure Trust in Science and Scientists” developed by Nadelson et al. (2014) was adapted into Turkish, and it was aimed to perform the validity and reliability studies of the scale. The original scale consists of 5 point Likert-type, single factor, and 21 items. The study was carried out with 236 pre-service teachers selected according to the convenient sampling technique. Some steps were followed in the adaptation of the scale. Content validity, construct validity, convergent and divergent validity were tested and reliability analyses were made. After the adaptation, a 2-factor structure consisting of 10 items emerged. It was accepted that the scale, in which expert opinions were consulted, is a valid and reliable measurement tool. Thus, a measurement tool that can be used in studies of trust in science and scientists has been adapted to the Turkish language and brought to the literature.
Height on the COVID‐19 pandemic (2020–2021), a considerable atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity has emerged throughout the world. At the same time, social media and conspiracy theories have gained a lot of popularity. However, due to the impact of science and scientists on the public countering these sources of information, the outcome of the test given by science during the pandemic is still unclear. In this study, the relationship between trust in science and scientists, reliance on social media, belief in conspiracy theories, and pandemic awareness is modeled. A total of 953 adults from Turkey participated in the study and the obtained data were analyzed with the structural equation model. According to the results of the path analysis, reliance on social media influencers and belief in conspiracy theories affect trust in science both directly and indirectly. In addition, there is a positive relationship between pandemic awareness and trust in science.
This research was carried out to reveal the experiences of pre-service elementary teachers during their visit to the science center and their observations and opinions about this experience. For this purpose, a case study, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was adopted. Thirty-two pre-service elementary teachers participated in the research. Interviews, observations and diaries were used to obtain the data, and the data were subjected to content analysis. As a result of the analysis, four themes were reached: image, interest, contribution, and improvement. The results show that pre-service teachers associate the science center image they create with technology, laboratory and scientists. It was determined that pre-service teachers showed more interest in some disciplines of science, scientists, and technology-related fields in the science center. In addition, it was concluded that the science center will contribute to the innovative and productive vision, economy, science literacy of the society in the city where it is located, science teaching, and the professional development of teachers. Finally, the pre-service teachers made suggestions to increase the contribution of science centers to the region and society. It is thought that the results will be guiding in terms of providing science teaching experience and a qualified science teaching vision to pre-service elementary teachers in informal environments.
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