On pre-service science teachers' preexisting knowledge levels about basic astronomy concepts

Turkoglu O., Ornek F., Gokdere M., Suleymanoglu N., Orbay M.

International Journal of Physical Sciences, cilt.4, sa.11, ss.734-739, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 4 Sayı: 11
  • Basım Tarihi: 2009
  • Dergi Adı: International Journal of Physical Sciences
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.734-739
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Astronomy concepts, science teachers, teacher training, PHYSICS
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

A curriculum to train teacher candidates is a very important factor in developing teacher candidates' conceptual understanding of scientific concepts. Teacher candidates have a dramatic impact on students' ability to understand and construct new knowledge of the concepts. The purpose of this study was to determine the preconceptions and misconceptions of teacher candidates about basic astronomy concepts. This was measured by administrating the validated diagnostic questions from the latest version of the Astronomy Diagnostic Test 2.0 - 113 teacher candidates in the School of Education in Amasya University, Turkey. The findings indicated that teacher candidates held a series of misconceptions on several basic astronomy concepts. Common misconceptions were identified and a constructivist-inquiry approach to teaching basic astronomy concepts in the astronomy curriculum for pre-service teachers was proposed. © 2009 Academic Journals.