APPROACHING THE BASIC CONCEPTS AND PROBLEMS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY THROUGH COMPUTATIONAL THINKING METHOD


Thesis Type: Doctorate

Institution Of The Thesis: Gazi University, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, MATEMATİK VE FEN BİLİMLERİ EĞİTİMİ ANA BİLİM DALI, Turkey

Approval Date: 2021

Thesis Language: Turkish

Student: Aynur Elif Bulut

Supervisor: Mehmet Yılmaz

Abstract:

In order to keep up with the changes in the world, raising students according to the requirements of our age becomes the sole purpose of education. Computational thinking are among the 21st century skills that are suitable for the requirements of this digital age. Purpose of the research; It is defined as examining the steps of the students' computational thinking processes in the context of the ecosystem ecology unit. It also aims to help computing and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) educators understand computational thinking (what it looks like in “practice,” how it connects to their current curriculum, and how it will nurture computational thinking in today's youth). The research has a qualitative and quantitative dimensions. Case study design was used in the qualitative dimension. The study group of the research consists of thirty students studying in the tenth grade of a science high school in Turkey. Different data collection tools were used in order to have an idea about how students perform their computational thinking processes. As a result of the research, it was determined that the students studying at science high schools had positive/negative views and different perception levels about the application of computational thinking processes and the process. The students stated that the abstraction step was difficult and complex while applying the components of the process. In the face of a problem situation, it has been determined that they experience different difficulties in the steps they take to solve the problem, and differences in their decision-making processes and perspectives on the problem. Relational concepts were created between the qualitative data obtained and the whole process was modeled. As a result, it can be said that the development of computational thinking skills is necessary and important in terms of

learning processes. For this reason, computational thinking can be expressed as an undeniable necessity in order to bring the desired quality to education and to realize learning by internalizing it.

Keywords : Computational Thinking, Ecology, Science High School, Biology Education