Explorations to Overcome Socio-Economic Barriers in Learning and Thinking: A Flipped Classroom Study

The present study aims to examine the effect of the flipped classroom model on the academic achievement and critical-analytic thinking skills of students from different socio-economic backgrounds. For this purpose, two schools in the same province, attended by children from families with varying socio-economic levels, were included in the study. The study sample consisted of a total of 82 students: 30 from a secondary school with students from a low socio-economic background and 52 from another secondary school with students from a high socio-economic background in the 2021-2022 academic year. The study was designed based on the quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control groups. Experimental and control groups consisting of one class each, and four classes in total, were selected from the schools using the random assignment method. The total application period was 9 weeks while the duration of the experimental applications was 7 weeks (28 class hours). In the present study utilizing Edpuzzle, an online platform, interactive videos were developed in accordance with the learning outcomes of the course. Data were collected using the 25-item “Sun, Earth and Moon Achievement Test” applied to determine the learning levels of the students and the 72-item “Cornell Conditional Reasoning Test” applied to measure critical-analytic thinking skills. In conclusion, it was revealed that although there was no significant change in critical-analytic thinking skills, the flipped classroom model provided a significant increase in the academic achievement and critical-analytic thinking skills of students from both socio-economic backgrounds

Vaka temelli fen senaryoları kullanılarak öğretmen adaylarının analitik düşünme becerilerinin analiz edilmesi

Any science teacher must first acquire analytical thinking skills in order to give their students the ability to think analytically. Therefore, the candidacy period is important for teachers to develop this skill and translate it into professional knowledge. Based on this idea, the current research aims to determine the ability of preservice science teachers to use analytical thinking skills. An analytical thinking test is used in the research carried out survey method. This test consists of 20 case-based science scenarios in total from four different learning fields. These scenarios are designed according to the analytical thinking skill dimensions of Marzano’s Taxonomy (analyzing errors, classifying, comparing, specifying, generalizing). Preservice science teachers (N=158) from two public universities have participated in the study. It is determined that the majority of preservice science teachers weakly use their analytical thinking skills. It is revealed that preservice science teachers have difficulties respectively in classification - specification - error analysis - generalization – comparison according to Marzano's taxonomy from most to least while solving scenarios. It can be suggested that the science educators develop the designs to improve the analytical thinking skills of the candidates in the courses they conduct on the basis of the results of the research.Bir fen bilgisi öğretmeninin öğrencilerine analitik düşünme becerisini kazandırabilmesi için ilk olarak kendilerinin bu beceriyi kazanmış olmaları gerekmektedir. Bu yüzden öğretmenlerin bu beceriyi kazanmaları ve mesleki bilgiye çevirmeleri için adaylık dönemi önemlidir. Bu fikirden yola çıkarak mevcut araştırma, üçüncü sınıf fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının analitik düşünme becerisini kullanabilme durumlarını tespit etmeyi amaçlanmaktadır. Alan taraması yöntemiyle yürütülen araştırmada analitik düşünme testi kullanılmıştır. Bu test, dört farklı öğrenme alanından toplam 20 vaka temelli fen senaryosundan oluşmaktadır. Bu senaryolar Marzano’nun Taksonomisinin analitik düşünme becerisi boyutlarına göre tasarlanmıştır. Araştırmaya iki devlet üniversitesinden fen bilimleri öğretmen adayları (N=158) katılmıştır. Fen bilimleri öğretmen adaylarının çoğunluğunun analitik düşünme becerisini zayıf düzeyde kullandıkları tespit edilmiştir. Fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının senaryoları çözerken Marzano'nun taksonomisine göre en çoktan aza doğru sırasıyla sınıflama – özelleştirme – hata analizi – genelleme - karşılaştırma boyutlarında zorlandıkları ortaya çıkmıştır. Araştırmanın sonucuna dayanarak fen bilgisi eğitimcilerine yürüttükleri derslerde adayların analitik düşünme becerilerini geliştirmeye yönelik tasarımlar geliştirmeleri önerilmektedir

From Professional Knowledge to Practice: The Effect of Academic Counseling Model Based on Academic-Teacher Collaboration on Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Collaboration between teachers and academics can have a sustainable impact on teachers’ professional development. Accordingly, the aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the academic counseling model (ACM) based on academic-teacher collaboration on the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of in-service teachers. The ACM consists of five steps: diagnosis, training, action, gradually decreasing, and evaluation. The seven volunteer science teachers in different seniority levels participated in the research from three secondary schools (urban, suburban, and private schools). A total of six academics, four of whom were in the counseling team and two in the support team, took part as the academic team. We collected the data with an observation form developed according to the three components of PCK. The application period was about 23 weeks. We found statistical differences in all stages of ACM, except for gradually decreasing and evaluation, according to the classroom practices of the participant teachers. Consequently, we determined that ACM significantly improved science teachers’ professional skills on PCK. In this study, we focused on teachers’ professional development, which is a sub-variable of the school variable of ACM. In future research, more comprehensive studies focusing on other sub-components will be useful to reveal the impact of the model