Examining the Scientific Creativity of Biology Teacher Candidates According to their Problem-Solving Skills

The purpose of this study is to examine the levels of scientific creativity among biology teacher candidates based on their problem-solving abilities. The study's model is a causal-comparative design, which is one of the most common survey models. The data collection tool for the study was Akdeniz's (2014) "Scientific Creativity Test," which consists of seven questions. Students of Hacettepe University's Department of Biology Education's second and final years will make up the study's universe. As the reason for this, it is aimed to compare the scientific creativity levels of the biology teacher candidates who are just trying to get used to the teaching profession in the 2nd grade and the biology teacher candidates in the 4th grade who will be the future biology teachers. The study's sample was determined by the most accessible sampling method. Accordingly, the research sample consisted of 30 participants from Hacettepe University's Department of Biology Education in the 2nd and 4th grades. In the general screening model, the research model is a relational study. The t-test was used to analyze the data collected during the study for independent groups, and the chi-square approach was used when the independent variable was discrete. According to the results of the research, there is no statistically significant difference between the problem-solving skills of the biology teacher candidates and the scientific creativity levels according to the gender variable. However, a significant difference was found between the scientific creativity test scores of the teacher candidates according to the grade level variable. The results of the research can be explained by the fact that the 2nd-grade pre-service teachers have mastered the newly acquired knowledge about problem-solving in the teaching process and the 4th-grade teacher candidates start to forget the knowledge about problem-solving in the teaching process.