THE INNOVATIVE GROUP LEARNING DESIGN: INSTRUCTIONAL GROUP ACTIVITIES

The Instructional Group Activities Design (IGAD) refers to activities which aim to improve professional development and learning skills, in which a learning-centered teaching process is adopted and students study in small groups. The study aimed to both introduce the IGAD and determine pre-service science teachers’ opinions on IGAs that were performed during the practice hours of the course “Special Teaching Methods I.” In line with this aim, opinions of 56 pre-service science teachers on the practices were received. An opinion form, which includes open and close-ended questions, was used as a data collection tool. According to the results of the study, pre-service science teachers stated that the practice mostly contributed to their professional and social development areas. Regarding the negative aspects of the practices, pre-service science teachers underlined that they had difficulty regarding time and experienced certain group problems. Based on these findings, positive and negative aspects of the instructional group activities design for teacher training were discussed, and some recommendations were presented. Keywords: instructional group activities, teacher training, group learning design, science educatio

SELF, PEER AND TEACHER ASSESSMENTS: WHAT IS THE LEVEL OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM?

In this research, self, peer and teacher assessment applications were carried out in a science education course included in the teacher education programme. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of relationship between self, peer and teacher assessment. Another aim of the study was to analyze whether there was reciprocity bias in these assessments. In the research, the pre-service science teachers (203 participants in total) assessed themselves and their peers in terms of presentation skills in higher education. The research is a quantitative research that employs descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Self-assessment and peer assessment scores showed moderately high correlations with teacher scores but both were higher than teacher scores. The analyses of reciprocity bias level demonstrated that the scores received or assigned by peers were almost unaffected by bias. On the basis of all these results, it could be argued that self-assessment and peer assessment applications can be used to evaluate presentation skills in teacher education programmes or different tasks in other areas in higher education.  Article visualizations

Laboratory as an Instrument in Improving the Scientific Reasoning Skills of Pre-Service Science Teachers with Different Cognitive Styles

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of guided inquiry learning approach-based laboratory applications on the scientific reasoning skills of pre-service science teachers with different cognitive styles. Additionally, the opinions of pre-service science teachers with different cognitive styles about the effects of the application carried out in the study on the improvement of their scientific reasoning skills were also examined. The sample consisted of five pre-service science teachers studying at a state university in the west of Turkey. In the study, the partially mixed sequential dominant status design, which is a mixed-method research design, was used. The scientific reasoning skills of the participants were determined by using the Classroom Test of Formal Reasoning, and their cognitive styles were identified with the Group Embedded Figures Test. The opinions of the participants were taken through focus group interviews held after the application. As a result of the analysis, it was observed that the participants with field-dependent and field-intermediate cognitive styles achieved more targeted outcomes compared to those with field-independent cognitive styles. The potential relationship of this finding to the use of the guided inquiry learning approach and the hypothetico-deductive reasoning cycle during the applications was analyzed in terms of the concept of information processing, and recommendations were made for researchers

The Effect of Inquiry-Based Learning Strategy on the Students' Academic Achievements: A Meta-Analysis Study

In this study, a meta-analysis study was conducted to determine the effect of inquiry-based learning strategy on academic achievements of students. For this purpose, studies, which are appropriate to the research problem and have been carried on this subject between 2000-2017 in Turkey, were obtained from the database of the ULAKBIM (Turkish Academic Network and Information Center), National Higher Education Council Thesis Center and Google Academic. In this study, 53 studies investigating the effect of the inquiry-based learning strategy on academic achievements were included in the meta-analysis. The effect size values of the studies included in the meta-analysis were calculated using the CMA (Comprehensive Meta-Analysis) program according to Cohen's d. Besides this, the studies were analyzed using moderator variables such as grade level, type of publication, sample size and year they were conducted. Findings show that the inquiry-based learning strategy has a positive effect on the academic achievement of the students according to the teaching methods applied in the control groups. It has been determined that the overall effect size of this learning strategy on students' academic achievement is moderate with 0,700 values according to the random effects model. Moreover, moderator analysis showed that the level of education, publication type, sample size, and years did not change the effect size on academic achievement. In addition, the findings show that there is no publication bias in research included in the analysis. At the end of the study, some suggestions were offered for researchers on inquiry-based learning strategy and for new meta-analysis studies

DOI: 10.14686/buefad.988894 Teaching Socioscientific Issues through Scientific Scenarios: A Case Evaluation Based on Secondary School Students’ Views

The aim of this study is to make a situation assessment of student views on the processing of socioscientific issues through scientific scenarios.As a sample of socioscientific issues, the 'DNA and Genetic Code' unit, which is included in the secondary school science curriculum, was taken as the basis. The study was conducted with 8th grade students in a public school. As a method, a case study was used, which allowed the students' views to be examined in depth. The data were collected with an opinion form and semi-structured interviews. The opinion form data were analysed by content analysis, and semi-structured interviews were analysed by descriptive analysis. At the end of the study about the teaching of the socioscientific issues of ‘DNA and Genetic Code’ unit through scientific scenarios, it was revealed that the students thought that their academic achievement increased, scientific scenarios provided permanent learning, scientific scenarios were effective in associating lessons with daily life, and their awareness of social issues increased. According to the findings obtained from the students, the teaching of socioscientific issues through scientific scenarios increases the interest and motivation towards the lesson, makes the lesson enjoyable and fun, and facilitates understanding. In line with the experiences and findings obtained from the applications, suggestions were made for the use of scientific scenarios in the teaching of socioscientific issues