THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS’ LEVELS OF MEDIA LITERACY SKILLS AND CRITICAL THINKING DISPOSITIONS

This study examines the relationship between prospective teachers’ levels of media literacy skills and critical thinking disposition with respect to some variables. The research was conducted in correlational survey model. The data was obtained from 517 prospective teachers attending to different programs and grades at an education faculty of a state university in Turkey. Media Literacy Skills Scale, developed by Eri？ti and Erdem (2017), and UF/EMI Critical Thinking Disposition Scale, adapted to Turkish by Erta？ K？l？？ and ？en (2014), were used to identify prospective teachers’ levels of media literacy skills and critical thinking dispositions respectively. Some of the significant findings of the study include: Prospective teachers have medium level of media literacy skills and critical thinking dispositions. Prospective teachers’ levels of media literacy skills differ by their department but do not differ by gender and grade level variables. Their critical thinking dispositions do not differ by department, gender and grade level variables. There is a medium-level positive relationship between prospective teachers’ levels of media literacy skills and critical thinking dispositions. Prospective teachers’ average scores of critical thinking disposition account for 19% of the difference in the observed average scores of media literacy skills