The Effect of the Course of Teaching Practice on Prospective Science Student Teachers’ Teaching Methods and Technical Knowledge of the Subject of Electromagnetism

AbstractThe basic purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the Course of Teaching Practice on Prospective Science Teachers’ (PST) Teaching Methods and Technical Knowledge as it relates to Electromagnetism. The study group of the research carried out through a case study, a form of qualitative research methodology, is made up of six final year prospective science teachers who study at the Science Department of a State University in the year of 2009-2010. When the study group was determined, twenty seven PST's were asked to make a concept map including the concepts on electromagnetism presented in Unit called ‘Electricity in our lives’ in the science book which belongs to 8th grade Primary-School students. According to the results obtained from the concept map assessed with the rubric prepared, six teacher students were selected. The research data was collected with the usage of observation, interview and document analysis methods with the consideration of the sub-problem section at the beginning of the research. The results obtained indicated that prospective teachers did not put into practice the knowledge they theoretically have. In this research, interviews with teachers and lesson plans prepared after the application were based on the constructivist approach. They received evidence obtained. However, during the application of the student-centered approach to classroom activities, difficulties in practice, had concluded -a longer observation time study is required to see the improvements that the other elements of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) underwent