Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of creative and critical thinking based laboratory method on prospective primary teachers’ science process skills and academic achievement. This research was conducted with 94 prospective elementary teachers who were enrolled in two classes of education faculty in the spring semester of the 2004-2005 academic year. While the creative and critical thinking based laboratory applications were conducted in the experimental group, traditional laboratory applications were conducted in the control group. As a result of the investigation, it was determined that the experimental group was successful than the control group in terms of the science process skills and academic achievement. Implications for science education at the teacher education level were discussed.

Key words: Creative thinking, critical thinking, academic achievement, science process skills