An analysis of the relationship between curiosity and self-directed learning skills of teacher candidates

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the self-directed learning skills and the curiosity levels of teacher candidates. Whether their self-directed learning skills and curiosity levels differ in terms of gender, department of education and achievement is analyzed as well. The study group of this research consists of the senior students attending Elementary Teaching, Turkish Teaching, Pre-School Teaching, Mathematics and English Teaching departments of Hacettepe and Kastamonu Universities. To collect data in the study, ‘Curiosity Scale’ developed by Erwin, Coleman and Orlando (1998) and adapted by Demirel and Diker Coşkun (2009) and ‘Self-Directed Learning Skills Scale’ developed by Aşkın (2015) is used. According to the results of the study, it is clear that the curiosity and self-directed learning skills of teacher candidates don’t differ in terms of gender and department. According to the results of the study, it has been revealed that the curiosity levels of teacher candidates differ in terms of their achievement. In other words, the students who are more successful academically have higher levels of curiosity and self-directed learning. However, the results also show that there is a positively and medium level relationship between curiosity and self-directed learning skills.