Enhancing Pre-service Science Teachers' Views on the Nature of Science through QR Code Activities

Abstract

The aim of this study is to enhance pre-service science teachers' understanding of astronomy topics, such as the Kuiper Belt, dwarf planets, and Pluto's reclassification as a non-planet, and to develop their views on the nature of science through activities utilizing QR code technology. Additionally, the study aims to encourage pre-service teachers to design similar activities and incorporate various aspects of the nature of science, such as variability, imagination and creativity, subjectivity, observation, and inference, into these activities. Designed as a qualitative research, the study used pre- and post-implementation interviews, reflective evaluations, and QR code activities developed by the pre-service teachers as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The findings indicate that QR codes helped improve the participants' conceptual understanding and successfully integrated aspects of the nature of science into their activities. Furthermore, the pre-service teachers found the QR code activities to be interactive and useful. However, concerns were raised about using this technology in their professional lives due to the lack of technological infrastructure in schools. This highlights the importance of supporting technology integration in teacher education programs.