The effect of pre-service science teachers' prior experiences on their interests about chemistry experiments

The aim of the study was to examine the learners' interests about chemistry experiments based on their previous science experiences. Sample of the study consisted of 52 first year pre-service science teachers. The data gathered through chemistry experiments which preferred by the learners and an open ended survey. Results showed that participants prepared a chemistry experiment which they found easy to implement and understandable. It was also concluded that the experiments that have been chosen by most of the students have not been tried before for reasons such as lack of equipment or teachers not demonstrating experiments at the school. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.