The purpose of this study is to explore the strength of relationships between 7 th grade students' Scientific Process Skills (SPS), Nature of Science (NOS) beliefs, and Scientific Creativity (SC) through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). For this purpose, data were collected from 332 students of two public middle school students in Turkey. SPS, Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale (NSKS) and SC instruments were used as data collection tools. Zero-order and partial correlation analysis, MANCOVA and ANCOVA analyses were conducted on the data. Two models were hypothesized. In Hypothesized Model 1, it was considered that SPS both directly and indirectly through subscales of NSKS predicted SC; whereas, in Hypothesized Model 2, it was considered that the SPS directly predicted SC. SEM analysis was conducted to test the two hypothesized models. Sobel's z tests were conducted to examine the significance of the mediator roles of NSKS's subscales in the relationships between SPS and SC. Results indicated that the relationships between SPS and SC were partially mediated by only the Testable subscale of NSKS; likewise, this relationship was partially mediated by secondorder factor NSKS. Finally, we found that the Creative subscale of NSKS has a moderator role on predictive power of the SPS on the SC. Classroom implications obtained from the results are discussed in the paper.

a Eda GÖZÜYEŞİL is a Ph.D. candidate of Curriculum and Instruction. She is working as an English instructor at Niğde University School of Foreign Languages. Her research interests include foreign language teaching, brain-based learning and meta-analysis.

This paper aims to examine the role of demographic traits of Turkish teachers on the relationship between their thinking styles and creativity fostering behaviors. Three studies were conducted to investigate these relationships. In the first study, 202 Turkish elementary and secondary school teachers were included; in the second, 106 novice teachers were participants; and in the third, 246 student teachers participated. The Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI) and Creativity Fostering Teacher Index Scale (CFTIS) were administered to all three sample groups. An exploratory factor analysis, correlation, ANCOVA, hierarchical and logistic regression, and structural equation modeling analysis were conducted on the data. All three studies indicated that Type I thinking styles are a powerful predictor for creativity fostering behaviors. The results of Study 1 indicated that both the teachers' branch and the amount of work experience are significant mediators of the relationships between thinking styles and creativity fostering behaviors. The results of Study 2 indicated that the relationship between Type II thinking styles and creativity fostering behaviors is not significant. The results of all three studies, however, demonstrated that although the relationships between thinking styles and creativity fostering behaviors are significant, they are partially mediated by teachers' branch/department. These studies also determined that gender is not a significant factor in these relationships. Finally, there is a general discussion that ties the information collected together from the results of the three studies.

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