Developing pedagogical content knowledge in preservice science teachers through microteaching lesson study

4th World Conference on Educational Sciences (WCES) -- FEB 02-05, 2012 -- Univ Barcelona, Barcelona, SPAINWOS: 000314465902165The focal point of this study is to investigate the development of pedagogical content knowledge through focusing on the problems that preservice science teachers run through in "Heat and Temperature" subject of the science course curriculum. One of the qualitative research designs, case study has been benefited in this study. The members of the study group have been chosen from preservice science teachers of the education faculty through deviant case sampling which is one of the purposive methods. The pedagogical developments of the teacher candidates are to be evaluated by recording microteaching practices on "Heat and Temperature" subject within "Special Teaching Methods- II" course. While analyzing data, frequency and percentage values which are two of the descriptive statistics have been benefited. According to the results, it is seen that microteaching practices contribute a lot to the pedagogical content knowledge of preservice science teachers the content knowledge of whom are high in terms of teaching a concept or principle and the content knowledge of whom are high and low in terms of ending and evaluation the course. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Huseyin UzunboyluAcad World Educ & Res Ctr, Near E Univ, Bahcesehir Univ, Ankara Univ, Hacettepe Univ, Cyprus Educ Sci Asso

Misconceptions of science teacher candidates about heat and temperature

3rd World Conference on Educational Sciences (WCES) -- FEB 03-07, 2011 -- Bahcesehir Univ, Istanbul, TURKEYWOS: 000466750602149In this study, the misconceptions that the students have about heat and temperature and the reasons behind it have been focused. Members of study group include 60 second grade students of the Faculty of Education of Ahi Evran University during 2009-2010 school year. Multiple-choice tests have been used to be able find out misconceptions. In this test, also entitled as "Diagnostic Test", there is a space where students are expected to write why they have chosen that particular option after a number of items including the right answer along with confounding options. In addition, the misconceptions of teacher candidates have been put forth as an outcome of the analysis of data about heat and temperature. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.Ankara Univ, Near E Uni

STATION TECHNIQUE: A SAMPLE LESSON ACTIVITY ON CELLS

Purpose of this study is, evaluating products of students which were formed as a result of the activity prepared with station technique and their views which are related to this activity. This study was carried out with 20 sixth grade students who educated in Konya's Selçuklu Town in 2010-2011 education year. They were used as data gathering tool that semi-structured interview forms which prepared for determining activity products and views about this activity. NVivo 8 qualitative data analyzing program and descriptive analysis method was used for data analyzing. According to results of the study; cell and its parts were used correctly and impressive in activity products. Also, students expressed, they liked the activity, found it entertaining and regard it as an independent environment for telling their thoughts. But it is seen that some of the students didn't like the activity because of the reasons as can't generating ideas, not being taken into discussion and grou

THE EXPECTATIONS OF POST GRADUATE STUDENTS FROM ACADEMIC STAFF MEMBERS: THE EXAMPLE OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES INSTITUTION

In this study, the question of "What are the expectations of graduate students from academic staff members" has been focused so that the expectations of graduate students from academic staff members and to which extent they can attain these expectations could be found out. While determining the working group, maximum variation sampling, one of the methods of purposive sampling was used. At this point, our working group includes 9 master students and 10 doctorate (PhD) students in the educational sciences institution of Gazi University in 2009-2010 academic year. Measuring tools developed by the researchers of this study was used to obtainthe data, and the technique of category analysis was used while analyzing the data. As a consequence of this study, it has been found out that there are two kinds of sub-dimensions which are respectively Communication Skills related with the active learning process of graduate students and Personal Qualities along with Academic Adequacy related with academic staff members in terms of Academic Proficiency. There are some characteristics like being a model and ability to empathize under the sub-dimension of Personal Qualities while there are some characteristics like ability to empathize, the ability to use Turkish in an efficient way, use of body language and being objective under the sub-dimension of Communications Skills related with the academic staff members

INVESTIGATION OF PROSPECTIVE SCIENCE TEACHERS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMPUTERS IN TERMS OF DIFFERENT VARIABLES

The purpose of this study is to investigate prospective science teachers' attitudes towards computers in terms of gender, general academic achievement and grade level. This is a descriptive field survey. The study group of the research comprised of totally 226 students attending the Science Teaching Department of Education Faculty, Kırşehir Ahi Evran University. "Attitude Scale towards Computers" and "Demographic Information Form" were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. At the end of the study, teachers' attitudes towards computers were determined as in medium level. On the other hand, it was found out that prospective teachers' points of attitudes towards computers differed significantly according to gender and grade level. In addition, it was determined that the teachers' points of attitudes towards computers didn't differ significantly according to general academic achievement. It was revealed that there were high and medium-level positive relationships between prospective teachers' points of attitudes towards computers and gender, grade level and academic achievement

USE OF SCIENCE LOGS IN DETERMINING THE RELATION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND DAILY LIFE

In this study, science logs were used in order to investigate students' skills to relate science and daily life. The purpose of the study was to determine what kind of relations students can generally form between science and daily life without choosing any subject from science and technology curriculum and to specify their opinions about explaining these relations through science logs. Students' science log writing practice lasted for 3 weeks. The study group, which was determined through convenient sampling-one of purposeful sampling methods- comprised of 12 6th grade students in Selçuklu district of Konya. The study was designed in a purely qualitative fashion for all steps of sample selection, data collection and analysis. The technique that was preferred in the data collected through science logs were correspondence. Students' opinions about relating science to daily life by using science logs were taken through semi-structured interviews. For analyzing the study data, descriptive analysis was performed through NVivo 8 Data Analysis Program. According to the study results, it was determined that students could generally identify the subjects related to science but that they had difficulty forming a relation between what they came across and science. Students stated that they had pleasure in writing science logs and that although in the first couple of days they had difficulty in understanding whether what they came across was related or not, they liked it later on

Examining Strategies Used by Pre-service Science Teachers in Stoichiometry Problems in Terms of Proportional Reasoning

WOS: 000466499700030Stoichiometry problems are one of the best examples of problem solving in chemistry education. Proportional reasoning supports correct answers in stoichiometry problems. It is needed to examine how these problems are solved as well as the accuracy of solutions because of the importance and benefits of conceptual problem solving. This study utilizes the embedded multiple case study design. The stoichiometry problem solutions of 37 pre-service science teachers (PSTs) were examined based on three units of analysis; (i) whether pre-service teachers balanced the equations correctly or not, (ii) the accuracy of solutions, and (iii) strategies used to solve problems. More than half of the PSTs balanced the equations correctly but most of them did not interpret the integers in the equations appropriately. Participants were inclined to use algorithmic approach more than proportional reasoning. The accuracy of solutions and the frequency of algorithmic approach increased while the complexity of problems decreased. PSTs had difficulties in making sense of integers of chemical reactions, using intensive units such as density, and converting units. It is thought that PSTs prefer to use strategies that they learnt in their prior learning experiences. Within the context of findings, we suggest that PSTs should be supported conceptually about the meanings of integers and should be introduced using proportional reasoning in problem solving prior to algorithms.Kirsehir Ahi Evran University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit [EGT. A4.18.027]This paper refers to data from the research project "Examining Preservice Science Teachers' Proportional Reasoning in the Subject of Chemical Reactions" (EGT. A4.18.027), funded by the Kirsehir Ahi Evran University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit

The effect of micro teaching to the development of pre-service science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge on the subject of heat and temperature

Bu araştırmada, mikro öğretimin ilköğretim fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının Isı ve Sıcaklık konusunda pedagojik alan bilgisi gelişimine etkisinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmada hem nicel hem de nitel araştırma desenlerinin birlikte kullanıldığı karma yöntem kullanılmıştır. Araştırma verilerinin toplanmasında nicel boyutta solomon dörtlü grup modeli ile veriler toplanırken, nitel boyutta ise durum çalışması desenlerinden bütüncül çoklu durum araştırma deseninden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırmada, iki farklı üniversitede öğrenim görmekte olan son sınıf öğretmen adayları arasından seçkisiz örnekleme yoluyla seçilen 72 öğretmen adayı iki deney ve iki kontrol gruplarını oluşturmuştur. Ayrıca, fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının mikro öğretim sonrasında Isı ve Sıcaklık konusunda pedagojik alan bilgisi gelişimlerini incelemek için deney gruplarından amaçlı örnekleme yöntemi kapsamında 16 öğretmen adayı ile yarı yapılandırılmış mülakatlar yapılmıştır. Nicel verilerin toplanmasında öğretmenlik mesleği öz yeterlik inançları ve öğretmenlik mesleği tutum ölçeği; nitel verilerin toplanmasında ise, öğretmen adaylarının pedagojik alan bilgilerini belirlemek için yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu kullanılmıştır. Nicel verilerin analizinde SPSS 15.00 ve LISREL 9.1 paket programlarından yararlanılmıştır. Veriler çözümlenmeden önce çalışma gruplarının normallik testi için Kolmogrow-Simirnov testi sonuçlarına bakılmış ve ölçeğin geneli açısından normal dağılım gösterdiği görülmüştür. Verilerin yorumlanmasında ise frekans (f), yüzde (%), aritmetik ortalama ( X ), standart sapma (SD) değerleri hesaplanmış ve ikili değişkenler için t testi ve ikiden fazla değişkenler için tek yönlü varyans analizi ve ortaya çıkan anlamlı farkın kaynağını tespit etmek için ise Scheffe testi kullanılmıştır. Gruplar arasındaki farkın anlamlı çıkması durumunda etki büyüklüğünü gösteren eta-kare (η2) değeri incelenmiştir. Araştırmada elde edilen nitel verilen analizinde ise, betimsel analiz ve içerik analizi yöntemleri ise koşulmuştur. Araştırmanın nicel sonuçlarına göre; mikro öğretimin öğretmen adaylarının mesleğe yönelik öz yeterliklerini ve tutumlarını olumlu yönde etkilediği saptanmıştır. Bununla birlikte mikro öğretim sürecince öğretmen adaylarının Isı ve Sıcaklık konusundaki alan bilgilerine yönelik eksikliklerini gördükleri ve bu eksiklikleri gidermeye istekli oldukları belirlenmiştir. Öğretmen adaylarının alan bilgilerine yönelik farkındalıkları sonrasında buna bağlı olarak kendilerine olan öz güvenlerinin arttığı, feni öğretmeye ve öğrenmeye yönelik olumlu tutumlar geliştirdikleri görülmüştür. Fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının mikro öğretim sürecindeki deneyimleri, onların Isı ve Sıcaklık konusunun öğretiminde öğrencilerin derse katılımlarını sağlayacak birçok öğretim strateji ve yöntemlerini kullanmalarına yönelik inançlarını arttırmıştır. Ayrıca, öğretmen adayları ile yapılan görüşmelerde elde edilen bulgulara göre, mikro öğretimin fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının Isı ve Sıcaklık konusunun öğretimine yönelik oryantasyonlarını da doğrudan etkilediği saptanmıştır. Öğretmen adaylarının Isı ve Sıcaklık konusunda ağırlıklı olarak süreç değerlendirmeye odaklı olduğu görülmüştür. Bu durum, deney gruplarının nicel bulgularında ortaya çıkan anlamlı farkın kaynağını açıklar niteliktedir. Araştırma sonuçları doğrultusunda mikro öğretim uygulamaları öğretmen eğitiminde öğretmen adaylarının pedagojik alan bilgilerinin gelişimlerini olumlu yönde etkileyecek şekilde yapılandırılabilir.In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effect of micro teaching to the development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of pre-service elemantary science teachers' on the subject of Heat and Temperature. In this study mixedmethod in which both qualitative and quantitative methods are used together was used. When collecting data, solomon four-group design in the quantitative section and potantial multiple-case study from case study design in the qualitative section was utilized. 72 pre-service teachers who was chosen by random sampling from the senior class students in two different universities constituted two experimantal and two control groups. Also, semi-conducted interviews were made with 16 pre-service teachers from experimental groups chosen with purposeful sampling from nonrandom samplimg method. In collecting quantitative data The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and teaching profession attitude scale; in collecting qualitative data semi-conducted interview form to determine pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge were used. It was utilized from SPSS 15.00 (Statistical Package for The Social Sciences) and LISREL 9.1 packet programmes for analyzing quantitative data. Before analyzing the data, the results of the Kolmogrow-Simirnov test were looked for the normality test of study groups and it was seen that scale had generally normal distrubution. For interpreting data, the values of frequency (f), percentage (%), arithmetic mean ( X ), standart deviation (SD) were calculated and t-test for binary variable and one way analysis of variance for variables more than two and Scheffe's Test to the determine the source of significant difference come up were used. In the caseof a significant difference between groups, eta-sequare (η2) that shows the effect size was examined. In analyzing qualitative data obtained in the study, descriptive analysis and content analysis were used. According to quantitative results of the study; it was determined that micro teaching affected positively pre-service eachers' self-efficacy and attitudes toward teaching profession. However, it was seen that during micro teaching process pre-service teachers realized their deficiencies in their content knowledge on the subject of Heat and Temperature and they were disposed to remove these deficiencies. After pre-service teachers' awareness of their content knowledge, correspondingly it was seen that their self reliance increased and developed positive attitudes toward science teaching and learning. Pre-service science teachers' experiences in the micro teaching enhanced their beliefs for using a lot of teaching strategies and methods that make students attend the lesson for teaching the subject of Heat and Temperature. Also, according to findings obtained from interviews made with pre-service teachers, it was determined that micro teaching affected directly pre-service science teachers' orientation toward teaching the subject of Heat and Temperature. It was seen that pre-service teachers predominantly focused on the process evaluation on the subject of Heat and Temperature. This case is such as to explain the source of the significant difference in the experimantal groups' quantitative results. In the direction of study results, micro teaching practices can be conducted as they will affect positively the development of pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in teacher education

Exploring of dispositions toward critical thinking in pre- service elementary science teachers

Bu çalışma fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının eleştirel düşünme eğilimlerini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma betimsel araştırma niteliğinde olup tarama modelinde yürütülmüştür. Çalışma grubu, amaçsal örnekleme yöntemlerinden benzeşik durum örneklemesi kapsamında belirlenmiştir. Bu çalışmada da Fen Bilgisi öğretmenliği lisans programına kayıtlı öğretmen adaylarının eleştirel düşünme eğilimleri birer olgu olarak düşünülmüş ve çalışma sürecinde de bu olgular betimlenmiştir. Bu çerçevede, 2010 -2011 eğitim-öğretim yılında Fen Bilgisi Öğretmenliği anabilim dalının özellileri yansıttığı düşünülen [Ahi Evran Üniversitesi (343 katılımcı), Gazi Üniversitesi (112 katılımcı) ve Aksaray Üniversitesi (85 katılımcı)] Fen Bilgisi öğretmenliği lisans programında öğrenim görmekte olan toplam 540 kişi çalışma grubunu oluşturmuştur. Araştırmada veri toplam aracı olarak; Facione, Facione ve Giancarlo (1998) tarafından geliştirilen ve Kökdemir (2003) tarafından Türkçe’ye uyarlanan The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI-R) kullanılmıştır. Ölçek onlu likert olarak hazırlanmıştır. Bu çalışmada, öğretmen adaylarının eleştirel düşünme eğilimleri ölçeği ile elde edilen verilerin analizi SPSS 15 paket programı ile yapılmıştır. Bu kapsamda betimsel istatistikler olarak frekans , yüzde, ortalam a ve standart sapma değerleri ile birlikte açımlayıcı istatistik tekniklerinde ise Kruskal Wallis ve Mann -Whitney U testleri kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin analizinde SPSS 15 paket programı kullanılmıştır. Araştırma bulgularına göre; fen bilgisi öğ retmen adaylarının eleştirel düşünme eğilimleri, genel olarak orta düzeyin (60%) üzerindedir.The purpose of this study is to examine on the dispositions towards critical thinking of pre-service elementary science teachers. This study is a descriptive research and the research model of this study is relational screening model. Study group was determined through the using of homogeneous sampling which is one of the purposive sampling methods. In this context, 540 students in the department of elementary science teaching were included in study group from Ahi Evran University, Gazi University and Aksar ay University during 2010 -2011 academic year. As a data collection tool, The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI-R) which was developed by Facione, Facione and Giancarlo (1998) and translated into Turkish by Kökdemir (2003) was used. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the latest scale which has six dimensions and 51 items was calculated as .88. The scale was prepared as ten -point likert scale. In this study, the data gathered through the CCTDI-R was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 15. According to the findings, dispositions toward critical thinking of pre - service elementary science teachers are generally above medium -level (60%)