Browsing by Author "Atasoy V."

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A phenomenographic investigation into preschool children’s relationships with nature through drawings
(2019-10-02) Ahi B.; Atasoy V.
This study aims to investigate preschool children’s relationships with nature through drawings. To this end, a total of 212 preschoolers constituted the study group. This study employed a triangulation design, i.e. one of the mixed-methods approaches in which qualitative and quantitative processes were carried out. As a result of the analyses, it was concluded that the children visually presented and narrated their relationships with nature positively. The age and gender variables were found to have led to statistically significant differences in the activities depicted in the drawings and the tone of the drawings, as well as the settings and people that are drawn in them. In light of the findings of this study, it can be argued that starting environmental education at an early age and enabling children to spend more time engaging with nature are important.
A study on examining relationship between pre-service teachers’ collective efficacy and science teaching efficacy beliefs
(2020-01-01) Atasoy V.; Çakiroğlu J.
It was aimed to investigate the relationship between collective efficacy and science teaching efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers. The study was composed of four junior pre-service science teachers working together to fulfill the tasks of a science methods course. They were interviewed at regular intervals during one semester. The results revealed that the sources of collective efficacy played an essential role in the development of personal science teaching efficacy and science teaching outcome expectancy of the group members. The participants most emphasized the effect of the positive influence of mastery experience. It was concluded that science teacher educators could consider collective efficacy when designing their courses to improve pre-service teachers’ science teaching efficacy beliefs.
An analysis of plant blindness in Turkish textbooks used at the basic education level
(2018-01-01) Ahi B.; Atasoy V.; Balci S.
The importance of plants is not as clearly understood as that of animals. This lack of attention is called “plant blindness” and is considered one of the most important problems in biology education. Textbooks do not put much emphasis on plants and, therefore, they may contribute to plant blindness. In this research, ten textbooks used for teaching at the basic education level in Turkey were analyzed for plant blindness using the document analysis method. The words and photographs associated with plants and animals were analyzed. The data analysis did not find any evidence that could lead to a conclusion of plant blindness based on the text and photos of these textbooks. However, if the number of plant and animal species covered is increased, and more words and photos are used to introduce these species, children will become more familiar with plants and animals. Besides textbooks, other educational tools can be analyzed in terms of plant blindness to expand on the related literature.
Forest school applications in pre-school period: A case study
(2020-01-01) Dilek Ö.; Atasoy V.
The current study was conducted to investigate the contribution of the forest school approach to the development of preschool children. In this connection, the study group is comprised of 7 pre-schoolers aged at 48-60 months. The sample of the current study was determined by using the convenience sampling method, one of the purposive sampling methods. The current study is a case study, covering an eight-week period. A total of five data collection tools were used in the study: “General Information Form”, “Pre-Application Questions”, “Activity Evaluation Form (Individual)”, “Activity Evaluation Form (General)”, “Development Observation Form”. The collected data were transcribed; codes and themes were established and finally content analysis was conducted on them. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that the forest school applications positively affected the children’s cognitive development, language development, social and emotional development, motor development and self-care skills in some situations and supported the development of the children in general. In light of these findings, integration of forest school into pre-school education is thought to be of great importance.
Formative assessment practices in science education: A meta-synthesis study
(2022-12-01) Atasoy V.; Kaya G.
This study aimed to examine qualitative studies on formative assessment (FA) in science education through metasynthesis. To this end, the study examined 22 qualitative studies selected according to particular criteria out of 1077 studies in several electronic databases. It sought to determine how science teachers' FA applications were supported and how teachers used FA in science classes. The numerical superiority of case studies, the existence of professional development programmes, and the role of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and beliefs in determining their FA practices were among the findings. Given the findings of the study, various suggestions are made for both researchers and science teachers. The studies that look at all aspects of classroom interaction could represent FA practices in more detail. It is also essential to improve science teachers' skills in FA applications with pre-service and in-service training.
Preservice science teachers’ collective efficacy in a science methods course
(2019-05-04) Atasoy V.; Cakiroglu J.
This study investigated how preservice teachers develop collective efficacy when preparing lesson plans for a science methods course, and how this collective efficacy changed over time. The data were collected from four preservice science teachers working in a group to fulfil the requirements of the course. Findings revealed that four factors, including collaborative work, sharing the same goal, attitudes towards group work and group cohesion, played an important role in the development of collective efficacy among preservice teachers. The study also showed that collective efficacy improved continuously over the semester.
The Role of Science Teachers' Awareness in their Classroom Practice of Formative Assessment
(2021-01-01) Kaya G.; Atasoy V.; Candan-Helvacı S.; Pektaş M.
The aim of this study is to determine the awareness of science teachers of formative assessment and to examine how formative assessment awareness is reflected in teachers' classroom practices. For this purpose, the exploratory mixed method was used in the study. For the first part of the study, the quantitative dimension was composed of 33 teachers, and the second part of the qualitative aspect consisted of 4 science teachers. As a data collection tool, a formative evaluation interview form consisting of 7 open-ended questions developed by the researchers and in-class observation form focusing on teachers' practices were used. The data obtained were analyzed by content analysis, and themes and codes were created. For the analysis of this data collection tool, a theme-code list was formed based on the data obtained in the research. As a result of the analyses, the teachers were divided into three levels: naive, eclectic and conscious. The majority of teachers who participated in the study were at the eclectic level. Teachers at this level have fundamental knowledge about the importance and use of formative assessment; however, it was found that these teachers do not adequately reflect the formative assessment in their practice. It was also observed that there was a parallel between teachers' awareness of formative assessment and their classroom practices. Considering the results obtained in this study, it is concluded that increasing the teachers' awareness regarding formative assessment can directly affect the shaping of their classroom practices.
What do primary school students’ drawings tell us about their mental models on marine environments?
(2020-01-01) Atasoy V.; Ahi B.; Balci S.
The current study aims to investigate the mental models of primary school students about marine environments and how variables such as gender, grade level, and city of residence affect their mental models. To this end, 100 students were selected from each of the four grade levels of primary education in Turkey; thus, a total of 400 students participated in the study. In the analysis of the collected data, both statistical tests and the content analysis method were used. As a result of the analyses conducted, it was found that with increasing grade level, the number of the codes belonging to marine environments also increased significantly (X 2 (3, n = 400) = 151.296, p = 0.000). In other words, the students’ mental models about marine environments were parallel to their grade level. In addition, the students’ mental models about marine environments were not found to vary significantly depending on gender (U = 18,513, z = −0.861, p = 0.39 with effect size r = 0.04) and city of residence (U = 19,852, z = −0.129, p = 0.897, with effect size r = 0.006).