Socioscientific Issues-Based Popular Science Readings with Prospective Classroom Teachers

Abstract

The present study aims to determine the effect of socioscientific issues-based popular science readings on prospective classroom teachers’ critical thinking skills and reading habits. This quantitative research employed the one-group pretest-posttest research design, which is recognized as a weak experimental design. The research was conducted with 15 volunteering prospective classroom teachers. The "Critical Thinking Skills Questionnaire" and "Attitude Scale towards Reading Habits" were applied as a pre-test and post-test to measure variations in participants’ critical thinking skills and reading habits. During the 10-week experimental process, articles about socioscientific issues from a Turkish popular science magazine (TUBITAK Bilim ve Teknik) were read with prospective classroom teachers. As a result, it was found that socioscientific issues-based popular science readings led to a statistically significant (p