The Relationship Between the Roles of Students in Science Classes and their Field-independent / Field-dependent Cognitive Styles

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the roles of students in science classes and their field-independent / field-dependent cognitive styles. We examined the type of field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles of the students by the Embedded Figure Test, and examined their individual behavior in small groups in scientific experiments during these classes. We analyzed the differences between the field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles of students in terms of the students' roles. These roles were of four types: experimenter, advisor, recorder, and onlooker. We then counted the number of students of the field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles who chose the same role in the group. We found that there was no significant difference in the roles of students between those with field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles. However, the percentage of field-dependent type students who chose the same role in the groups of scientific experiments was higher than that of the field-independent type.