Effects of Using Vee-Diagram and Concepts Maps in Laboratory on Academic Success and Critical Thinking
Journal Name:
- Amasya Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi
Keywords (Original Language):
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Abstract (2. Language):
Problem Statement: The aim of science education is to help students become individuals who can make sense of nature and the natural occurrences, improve their scientific process abilities and attitude, and use these skills to achieve information and create solutions by using their five senses and become literate in science. Laboratorial practices that include physical and visual materials along with teaching methods and techniques that help in teaching abstract notions in science classes should be implemented throughout educational activities. Laboratories give the students the chance of learning by doing, experiencing, and commenting on data after observing new information. Although laboratories are important in educational activities, the hassles which arise during the laboratory studies make the process of gaining the expected acquisition difficult. In order to prevent these problems and make sense of the scientific notions in science laboratories, different methods of teaching such as Vee-diagrams and concept maps are emphasized. Most of the studies related to the use of the Vee-diagram and the concept maps focus on the positive effect of these tools on the academic success of the students. However, it is important that the individuals look at the events and issues with a critical mind and under the spotlight of science. This emphasizes the importance of critical thinking disposition for success in science education. Purpose of the Study: The aim of this study is to examine the use of Vee-diagram and concept maps in the science and technology laboratory application classes and their effects on the teacher candidates’ academic success and critical thinking skills. Method: This study, along with being an experimental study, was put into practice using quasi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test control group. The surveys for both before and after the experiment for both groups can be seen in this model. 89 primary school teacher candidates (experiment group: 39, control group: 50) who study primary school teaching in the Faculty of Education of Sakarya University in the academic year of 2012-2013, participated in this study. One of the classrooms consisting of the primary school teachers was randomly assigned to the experiment group while another one was assigned to the control group. At the beginning of the practice, a power point presentation was given to the students in the experiment group, explaining what a Vee-diagram and a concept map is, and how to prepare them. The teacher candidates were requested to prepare their experiment reports as Vee-diagrams and concept maps. On the other hand, the activities in the control group were carried out within the current programme and the teacher candidates in this group were requested to prepare their reports complying with current standards. “Science and Technology Laboratory Practices Class Success Test” and “Critical Thinking Tendency Scale” were applied to the students in the experiment and control groups as data collection tools. “Science and Technology Laboratory Practices Class Success Test” was developed by researchers to test the reliability of the final form, Kuder-Richardson 20 (KR20) had been calculated and the finding was 0.70. The scale that was used for “Critical Thinking Tendency Scale” was customized for Turkish by Kökdemir (2003), and the Cronbach alpha parameter was calculated as 0.87. As a result of the collected data, in order to examine the effects of using the V-diagram and concept map on the success and critical thinking tendency of the primary school teacher candidates, covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was performed. In addition, in order to determine whether there was a difference between pre and post test scores for critical thinking disposition and class success test, paired sample t-tests was conducted. Findings and Discussions: The findings show that there is a significant difference in favor of the experiment group in class success in science and technology laboratory practices and critical thinking tendency scale. Depending on this result it was observed that performing the science and technology laboratory practices along with the support of concept maps and Vee-diagrams increased the academic success of the students in the science and technology laboratory activities. In addition, also in the sub dimensions such as curiosity, searching for the truth and being systematic, the significant difference was in favor of the experiment group while there was no important difference in the other dimensions. Also in the pre and post test scores, the experiment group in critical thinking tendency results showed a significant difference while there was no difference in the control group for the mentioned test scores.
Conclusions and Recommendations: These results show that the use of Vee-diagram and concept maps in the laboratory practices throughout the education has a positive effect on the class success and critical thinking tendency. In this scope, it can be said that the use of Vee-diagram and concept maps in laboratory activities and other education activities is a key element in substantiating the present aims of the science classes along with providing meaningful learning. At this point it is possible to conduct studies in order to identify the problems the teacher candidates run into while using Vee-diagram and concept map in the laboratory practices and question the effect of the use of these tools in the laboratories on the various affective and cognitive features of the students. Meanwhile, the effect of different teaching methods and techniques on students’ laboratory success and critical thinking disposition should be investigated by researchers.
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Abstract (Original Language):
Bu çalışmada; fen ve teknoloji laboratuar uygulamaları dersinde kavram haritası ve V-diyagramı kullanımının sınıf öğretmenliği adaylarının ders başarıları ve eleştirel düşünme eğilimlerine etkisinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmada; ön test- son test kontrol gruplu yarı deneysel desen kullanılmıştır. Bu araştırmaya; 2012-2013 eğitim - öğretim yılı güz döneminde Sakarya Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Sınıf Öğretmenliği Anabilim Dalı’nda öğrenim görmekte olan toplam 89 (deney grubu:39, kontrol grubu:50) 3. sınıf öğretmen adayı katılmıştır. Araştırma kapsamında deney grubunda yer alan öğrencilere, uygulamanın başlangıcında V-diyagramı ve kavram haritasının ne olduğu ve nasıl hazırlanacağına ilişkin bilgiler powerpoint sunusu aracılığıyla verilmiş ve öğretmen adaylarından deney raporlarını V-diyagramı ve kavram haritaları şeklinde hazırlanmaları istenmiştir. Kontrol grubunda ise öğretim mevcut programa uygun şekilde yürütülmüş ve bu grupta yer alan öğretmen adayları deney raporlarını standart rapor şeklinde hazırlamıştır. Veri toplama aracı olarak ise deney ve kontrol grubu öğrencilerine “Fen ve Teknoloji Laboratuvarı Uygulamaları Ders Başarı Testi” ve “Eleştirel Düşünme Eğilimleri Ölçeği” uygulanmıştır. Elde edilen sonuçlar doğrultusunda deney ve kontrol grubunda yer alan öğrencilerin fen ve teknoloji laboratuar uygulamaları dersi başarısı ve eleştirel düşünme eğilimleri arasında deney grubu lehine anlamlı bir fark olduğu bulunmuştur. Bunun yanında eleştirel düşünme eğilimleri ölçeği meraklılık, doğruyu arama ve sistematiklik alt boyutlarında da deney grubunda yer alan öğrenciler lehine anlamlı fark bulunurken diğer boyutlarda anlamlı bir fark bulunmamıştır. Aynı zamanda deney grubundaki öğrencilerin ön ve son eleştirel düşünme eğilimi puanları arasında istatistiki bakımdan anlamlı bir fark bulunmasına rağmen kontrol grubunda ise fark çıkmamıştır. Sonuç olarak, laboratuarda eğitim öğretim faaliyetleri içerisinde v-diyagramı ve kavram haritası kullanımı öğrencilerin başarı ve eleştirel düşünme eğilimlerini olumlu yönde etkilemektedir.
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