| Popis: |
Purpose of the present study was twofold. Firstly we explored preschool teachers' level of knowledge about planning, applying, and evaluating science activities. Secondly we aimed finding out whether teachers' levels of knowledge differs in terms of participant teachers' professional experience in the field. Data for the study came from 23 participant teachers who work at public preschools in the city of Adana, Turkey during 2005-2006 academic year. Data were gathered through interviews and observations. Content analysis method was used in the data analysis process. Analysis of the findings presents the following results. Preschool teachers who participated in this study did not feel sufficient enough about their ability to teach science. Results revealed that participant teachers did not include sufficient amount of science activities in their daily teaching programs, could not effectively utilize informal learning experiences, and did not have adequate knowledge about the process of planning, applying and evaluating science activities. Teachers were not aware of effective teaching methods and not efficient in applying teaching methods they know. Another finding of the present study was that teachers misunderstood science activities with doing experiments and this became apparent in their teaching practice. Furthermore, teachers did not have adequate knowledge about science education, thus they could not give satisfactory explanations to children's questions. Finally, analysis of the results pointed out to some discrepancies between what teachers said during interviews and the practice of five participant teachers. |
