A CROSS-AGE COMPARISON OF SCIENCE STUDENT TEACHERS’ CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF SOIL EROSION

Journal Title: Problems of Education in the 21st Century - Year 2018, Vol 76, Issue 5

Abstract

The relevant literature has shown that student teachers hold alternative conceptions of soil erosion. Even though Turkish science student teachers are expected to teach the concept of ‘soil erosion’ in lower secondary schools (grades 5-8), none of the earlier studies have explored their conceptual growth and/or mental models throughout a 4-year undergraduate program. Indeed, science (student) teachers, who play a pivotal role in teaching the sustainability of soil as an environmental heritage, are able to transfer their environmental knowledge and mental models to younger generations. Therefore, the aim of this research was to elicit science student teachers’ (SSTs) understanding of soil erosion. In a cross-age comparison, the sample of the research was comprised of the first-year (n=54), second-year (n=62), third-year (n=60), and fourth-year of a four-year science education program (n=65), a total of 241 SSTs, enrolled at the Department of Science Education in Karadeniz Technical University in Turkey. A questionnaire with 4 open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The results indicated that the majority of the SSTs confused the concept of ‘soil erosion’ with the one ‘landslide’. For this reason, the current research suggests the development of analogies and computer simulations to overcome this confusion.

Authors and Affiliations

Sibel Er Nas, Muammer Çalık

Keywords

Related Articles

TOWARDS A POSSIBLE GOOD-PRACTICE MODEL IN NON-FORMAL EDUCATION: A CASE OF ROMANIA

By its nature, education has 3 forms that are in a strong interdependence: formal, non-formal and informal. Non-formal education can be defined as a form of education implemented by schools in partnership with different...

SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENTS OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AMONG BOSNIAN AND TURKISH STUDENTS

General intelligence is a good predictor of academic achievement. However, according to Howard Gardner, there are several types of intelligence. They have to be considered in the educational context because education req...

SCHOOL FACTORS AFFECTING ESTONIAN STUDENTS’ SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING AT THE BASIC SCHOOL

This research focuses on the personal well-being of basic school students and on the school environment factors affecting it. The authors were also interested to know whether there are any differences between two age gro...

SITUATED LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF APPLYING COGNITIVE APPRENTICESHIP AND COMMUNITY OF PRACTICES IN A KINDERGARTEN

The purpose of this study is to implement and evaluate a teacher training program based on the framework of situated learning. Adapting from the situated learning approaches, the author implemented two in-service teacher...

THE IMPACT OF RECEPTION LITERATURE ON READING COMPETENCE IN CHILDREN WITH MILD MENTAL RETARDATION

The study investigated the impact of children’s literature reception on literacy at children with mild mental retardation in the process designed on the adapted receptive model of children’s literature didactics. An expe...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP432424
  • DOI -
  • Views 159
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Sibel Er Nas, Muammer Çalık (2018). A CROSS-AGE COMPARISON OF SCIENCE STUDENT TEACHERS’ CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF SOIL EROSION. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 76(5), 601-619. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-432424