Developing Epistemological Views of Teacher Candidates with Laboratory Practices Based on Transformative Learning Theory

In this research, the effects of biology laboratory applications based on transformative learning theory bounded by Mezirow on critical thinking skills of science teacher candidates were examined. For this purpose, the pre-test post-test control group-free design of the quasi-experimental method was used. The study group consisted of the students who were attending the 2nd year of science teaching at a state university and who took the general biology laboratory I and II courses of the 2017- 2018 academic year. The research was conducted with a total of 73 teacher candidates in three different laboratory branches. In order to collect the data, semi-structured interview and document analysis methods were used together with the Scientific Epistemological Views Scale. When the data collected within the scope of the research were analyzed, it was determined that the pre-test scores of the pre-test scores of the teachers scientific epistemological views scale changed significantly (t= -4.67, p=.000) and the application carried out accordingly increased the epistemological views of the prospective teachers. Based on qualitative and quantitative findings, recommendations for further research are presented.