The views of primary school teacher candidates on nuclear energy

Abstract

Nowadays, when technological developments continue rapidly, the trend towards alternative energy sources is gaining speed. It is necessary to inform people about nuclear energy, which is one of these energy sources, and to raise awareness in this issue with environmental education courses starting from the early ages. Teachers have a great responsibility in this issue. Therefore, it is understood that the attitudes of teacher candidates who are future teachers towards the use of nuclear energy and the education they receive at their universities are important. However, studies conducted on this issue have been found to be inadequate. Depending on the results of the study, it can be suggested that more comprehensible studies should be conducted with the primary school teacher candidates.With the development of technology, nuclear energy is a resource needed to meet the energy we use in our age. The students need to be conscious of nuclear energy, which will gradually increase in importance and usage in the future. For this purpose, primary school teachers have important roles. The current study aims to determine the views of primary school teacher candidates studying at the department of primary school education programs, education faculties on the use of nuclear energy. In line with the aim of this study, ‘the Nuclear Energy Attitude Scale’, which was developed by the researcher based on the qualitative research model, and of which reliability and validity were proved was applied to teacher candidates. 217 students studying at Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University and Eskişehir Anadolu University participated in the study. The findings of the study showed that while there was no significant difference in the attitudes of teacher candidates based on their age and year of education, there was significant difference in the attitudes of the participants in terms of gender and universities they study.